WASHINGTON, D.C. The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools President and CEO, Nina Rees, released the following statement today on Indiana Governor Mike Pence’s proposal to increase funding for public charter school students by $1,500:”We applaud Governor Pence on recommending a funding increase for public charter schools in Indiana and thank him for his continued support to grow high-quality public charter schools.”Despite having a strong charter school law, Indiana struggles with persistent funding inequity between public charter and district schools. Currently, Indiana public charter schools receive $8,671 per pupil compared with $11,055 per pupil for district schools.”While the Indiana General Assembly has done much to improve the states charter school law, there’s a lot more than can be done. The goal is to achieve full funding equity among public charter and district schools, but with Governor Pence’s proposal we are moving closer to ending the funding gap between traditional public schools and public charter schools.”
About Public Charter Schools
Public charter 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 independent 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 our website at www.publiccharters.org.
