Washington, D.C. The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools released the following statement in response to the White House proclamation and U.S. Senate resolution honoring National Charter Schools Week and recognizing the important role charter public schools play in educating our nations students:
“We commend President Obama for honoring National Charter Schools Week in an official White House proclamation. The president has been a steadfast supporter of the growth of high-quality charter schools throughout his administration. Time and again, he has been a true champion for charter public schools and the families they serve.
“We also applaud the role the U.S. Senate has played in ensuring that more high-quality charter schools can open, expand and replicate around the country. During this Congress, weve seen the greatest increase in funding for the Charter Schools Program in history. That is due to the support of the Senate and, in particular, the 28 co-sponsors of this resolution.”
President Obama released an official proclamation declaring May 1-7National Charter Schools Week. The president said, “We celebrate the role of high-quality public charter schools in helping to ensure students are prepared and able to seize their piece of the American dream.”
The U.S. Senate also passed a resolution honoring the week. Twenty-eight senators co-sponsored the resolution, the largest number of co-sponsors of this resolution to date. In the resolution, the Senate congratulates the students, families, teachers, leaders, and staff of public charter schools across the United States for making ongoing contributions to public education; making impressive strides in closing the academic achievement gap in schools in the United States, particularly in schools with some of the most disadvantaged students in both rural and urban communities; and improving and strengthening the public school system throughout the United States.
Nearly 3 million students are enrolled in about 7,000 charter schools in 43 states and the District of Columbia. A new parent surveyreleased by the National Alliance shows that 78 percent of parents support having a charter public school in their neighborhood.
Click here to read President Obama’s proclamation.
Click here to read the U.S. Senate’s resolution.
About Charter Public Schools
Charter public schools are independent, public, and tuition-free schools that are given the freedom to be more innovative while being held accountable for advancing student achievement. Since 2010, manyresearch studieshavefound that students in charter schools do better in school than their traditional school peers. For example, one study by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University found that charter schools do a better job teaching low income students, minority students, and students who are still learning English than traditional schools. Separate studies by the Center on Reinventing Public Education and Mathematica Policy Research have found that charter school students are more likely to graduate from high school, go on to college, stay in college and have higher earnings in early adulthood.
About the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools
The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools is the leading national nonprofit organization committed to advancing the public charter school movement. Our mission is to lead public education to unprecedented levels of academic achievement by fostering a strong charter sector. For more information, please visitwww.publiccharters.org
