Washington, D.C. Nina Rees, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, released the following statement on the naming of conferees to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA):
"The National Alliance is pleased that efforts to reauthorize ESEA are moving forward. We are hopeful that the conferees can maintain the bipartisan nature of the framework negotiated by Senators Alexander and Murray, and Congressmen Kline and Scott. The reauthorization of ESEA is long overdue, and school leaders across the country are eager for Congress to finish its work.
"We thank the House and Senate education committee leadership and their staff for their hard work and commitment to seeing the bill through the process. We hope that members of Congress on both sides of the aisle continue to work together and craft a conference report that supports all schools and students."
About Charter Schools
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 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 movement. For more information, please visit www.publiccharters.org.