Washington, D.C. – The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools today released the following statement regarding the 2016 presidential election and its implications for strengthening public school choice, an issue that enjoys bipartisan support:
“We look forward to working with President-elect Trump and his administration to continue the strong progress charter public schools have made under the last three administrations. Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama all recognized the contributions charter schools have made to strengthening Americas education system, and all enacted smart policies that have allowed charter schools to deliver on their promise of public, free, and high-quality education.
“President-elect Trump has voiced his support for charter schools, and we are grateful for the opportunity to work with his administration to turn his support into effective policies that ensure charter schools are high-quality, innovative, accountable, and accessible to students. We also welcome the opportunity to work with Vice President-elect Pence, whose home state of Indiana has the strongest charter school law in the nation, according to the National Alliance’s 2016 ranking of state charter school laws.
“Doing whats right for children and families is a bipartisan issue. More importantly, its a human issue. Students deserve every opportunity to receive a high-quality public education, and support for this critical yet common-sense idea was shown at polls, by people across the country. In Denver, voters approved two measures that will increase funding for essential wrap-around services to schools with the highest levels of poverty, and enable the best teachers to support their colleagues in the classroom. And California made news by rolling back an outdated prohibition on bilingual education, which means that communities and districts can try a variety of approaches to helping all students master English and other subjects.
“Together, we have the incredible opportunity to further strengthen public education for students in school now, and for generations to come.”
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 movement. For more information, please visit www.publiccharters.org.
