Washington, D.C. The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools president and CEO Nina Rees released the following statement today in response to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies bill that includes a three percent funding increase for the Charter Schools Program for FY 2017:
“We are grateful to Chairman Roy Blunt and Ranking Member Patty Murray for their continued support of charter public schools and the nearly three million students they serve across the country. This $10 million increase will expand opportunities to the nearly one million students on charter school wait lists. The National Alliance commends the subcommittee for recognizing the importance of supporting the start-up of new charter schools, the replication and expansion of high-performing charter schools, and the financing of charter school facilities.”
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 visitwww.publiccharters.org
