WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, politicians in the California Assembly shamelessly passed a bill that will limit access to a high-quality public school for California students (Assembly Bill 1505). In voting to take away educational opportunity from kids, particularly low-income and minority children, we see that Sacramento politicians are more interested in appeasing their special-interest backers than doing what is best for kids.
A 2014 report on California charter schools by CREDO at Stanford University noted that Black students in poverty gain 36 more days of learning in reading and 43 more days of learning in math annually than their counterparts in traditional public schools. Hispanic students in poverty gained an additional 22 days of learning in reading and 29 days in math than their traditional public school peers each year. Charter school students receiving special education services gain an additional 14 days of learning in reading and seven more days in math than their traditional public-school peers annually. The benefit for English Language Learners enrolled in charter schools amounts to an additional 36 days of learning in reading and 50 days of learning in math each year.
National Alliance President and CEO Nina Rees released the following statement:
“California has been a leader for our nation’s most underserved students, providing them with public charter schools that are producing results for students who have been systematically underserved,” said Rees. “We cannot let public school students be collateral damage to bills that would take away their ability to attend a high-performing public school.”
The National Alliance urges Californians to fight back against these political attacks fueled by bureaucratic interests and to demand that their Legislators stand up for kids. Another extreme bill could still be called for a floor vote in the Assembly. Send a message to the Senate to vote NO on Assembly Bill 1505 and to all Legislators to vote NO on Assembly Bill 1506. The futures of hundreds of thousands of public-school students in California are at risk.
