Washington, D.C. - January 25 marks the beginning of School Choice Week an awareness effort to highlight the need for more high quality school options for all families.
Nina Rees, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools released the following statement on the weeklong celebration of school choice:
"Year after year, individuals, families, schools, and education organizations unite to celebrate and demand choice. School Choice Week gives us an opportunity to tell the stories of those who fight to improve our education system everyday and honor their efforts.
"For more than 20 years, charter schools have served as a critical public education option for students and families. There are now more than 2.7 million students attending nearly 6,500 charter schools across the nation.
"School Choice Week also reminds us that hundreds of thousands more children are still waiting for their chance to attend a high quality public charter school. The National Alliance will continue to advocate on their behalf."
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.