September 3, 2009
Public Demand and Support for Charters Continues to Grow
Washington, D.C. – With the start of the 2009-2010 academic year, over 400 new public charter schools will open their doors to students and more than 170,000 new students will be attending public charter schools, according to new enrollment data compiled by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. The addition of these new charter schools and students means that there are now approximately 4,900 public charter schools enrolling over 1.5 million students across the country.
The data comes on the heels of a recent Gallup/Phi Delta Kappa poll which showed that two out of three Americans support public charter schools. The poll also demonstrated that Americans’ approval of charter schools has increased by 15 percent over the past five years.
“As more public charter schools demonstrate that innovation and accountability work to bring a high-quality public education to students, support for chartering grows,” said Nelson Smith, Alliance President and CEO. “We are pleased to see such growth in the public charter school sector, as well as polling data that shows that the U.S. Department of Education’s Race to the Top focus on charters is in sync with the public’s support of them.”
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