Washington D.C. Today, the Virginia House passed House Joint Resolution 1, an amendment to the state constitution that will support the creation of high-quality charter public schools in the state.
Nina Rees, president and CEO at the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, released the following statement:
“This resolution provides an opportunity to provide thousands of children with more high-quality public school options. We at the National Alliance, along with our coalition partners in Virginia, are very pleased with the Houses vote today. Its a positive step toward building a brighter education system in Virginia.
“Virginia is one of only three states (out of the 42 states and D.C. with charter school laws) that doesn’t give charter applicants the ability to either apply directly to a non-district authorizer or appeal a school district’s rejection to a non-district authorizer. Passing this resolution will give the families of Virginia more high-quality public school options that are flexible, innovative and have proven extremely valuable in closing academic achievement gaps.
“We also want to take this opportunity to thank Delegate Rob Bell, Speaker of the House William Howell and all the supporters of this bill for taking a significant step toward improving the pubic education system in Virginia.
“We now urge the Senate to pass this legislation.”
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.
