Candidates McCain and Obama Praise Public Charter Schools in Final Debate
One Thing They Agree on: High-Quality Charters are Making a Difference for Students, Should be Expanded
Washington, DC - It was the last question of 2008 Presidential debates posed to the candidates. In education, “we trail most the countries of the world…what do you intend to do about it?” Senators John McCain and Barack Obama agreed on one thing: High-quality charter schools are making a difference for students and need to be expanded.
“Charter schools aren’t the only answer, but they’re providing competition,” said Senator McCain. “…choice and competition amongst schools is one of the key elements that’s already been proven in places like New Orleans and New York City and other places, where we have charter schools, where we take good teachers and we reward them and promote them.”
Concurring with McCain, Obama cited his long support for public charter schools: “I doubled the number of charter schools in Illinois despite some reservations from teachers unions. I think it’s important to foster competition inside the public schools.”
Today, more than 1.3 million students are enrolled in 4,300 public charter schools in 40 states and the District of Columbia, with more than 360 new schools opening last year alone. Fueling their popularity, new studies are showing that charter schools are increasing student achievement. A recent analysis of charter achievement reports found that 31 of 40 studies since 2001 have reported overall gains in charter schools greater than those in comparable district-run public schools.
Charter schools are a unique education reform begun just 17 years ago and are now at the forefront of efforts to strengthen public education. They are independent public schools, free to innovate and held accountable by their authorizers for improved student achievement. They offer open enrollment to all students. As evidence of their popularity, the total number of students on charter school waiting lists has grown to over 350,000 nationally.
Click here for the full record (transcript and video) of what the candidates said about the value of high-quality charter schools.
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