Washington, D.C. National Alliance for Public Charter Schools President and CEO, Nina Rees released the following statement on Arizona Supreme Courts decision to uphold the ruling on charter school funding.
"By refusing to hear this case, the Arizona Supreme Court has told the parents of children in Arizona public charter schools that their children can be treated as second class citizens.
"The National Alliance stands behind the parents and advocates who brought this case, and hopes that Gov. Ducey and the Arizona legislature will fix the state's unfair school funding system.
"Sadly, inequitable funding is the norm across the country, with the average charter school receiving 28.4 percent less funding than their traditional publicschool counterparts. Its no wonder we have seen a growing number of lawsuits from parents demanding equal funding for their childrens 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, 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.