WASHINGTON, D.C. Today National Alliance President and CEO Nina Rees released the following statement on the results of the 2014 elections:
“We congratulate our newly elected and re-elected officials across the country. As these representatives at the state, local, and federal levels now turn their attention from campaigning toward governing, we urge them to consider the vital role of public charter schools to improve and strengthen our public education system on behalf of students and families.
“We look forward to working with members in both the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate to advance sound education policy and increase support for the federal Charter Schools Program that has helped so many charter schools open their doors and begin serving students.
“We are also encouraged to see victories for charter school supporters in many gubernatorial elections. Some of these supporters are new to office and now have an opportunity to push significant charter school legislation in their states, such as the gubernatorial winners in Arizona, Arkansas, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Nebraska. Other supporters were re-elected and will have the chance to build upon their previous efforts, including those in California, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.
“Over the past decade, we have made great strides in the growth of public charter schools, yet more than 1 million student names remain on waiting lists and our work is far from done. We look forward to the new opportunities ahead to further shape and strengthen the public charter school movement on behalf of the students and families we serve.”
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, all but one independent research study has 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.
