Washington, D.C. Tomorrow, June 4, 2016, the charter public school movement turns 25. After 25 years of giving families high-quality public schools of choice, nearly 3 million students are enrolled in over 6,800 charter schools.
“We are incredibly proud of the growth of the charter public school movement and its impact on student achievement over the past 25 years,” said Nina Rees, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. “We know that there are still far too many parents who want to send their children to a charter school, but dont have access to one. Going forward, our goal is to open the doors of high-quality charter schools to any family whose child wants to attend one.”
Along with charter school partners from around the country, the National Alliance will be celebrating the 25th anniversary at its annual conference this month in Nashville.
Daring parents, educators, and lawmakers who demanded better schools helped to create charter schools over the last quarter century. These schools have allowed millions of children who otherwise would have been stuck without educational opportunities to access high-quality schools, said Marc Sternberg, director of the Walton Family Foundations K-12 Education Program. The Walton Family Foundation is inspired by the thousands of educators, schools, parents, and policymakers who have made this remarkable story possible, and were committed to helping to create more high-quality educational opportunities for children in the years ahead.
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, many research studies have found 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 visit www.publiccharters.org
