Washington, D.C. – Nina Rees, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools responds to the latest omnibus appropriations bill, which includes a 17 percent funding increase ($58 million) for the Charter Schools Program (CSP) for fiscal year 2018.
“The National Alliance is grateful that members of Congress from both sides of the aisle recognize the critical role charter schools play in strengthening public education in our country. The $58 million increase brings total CSP funding to $400 million–the highest level in the program’s 23-year history. Title I and IDEA are also critical sources of support for charter schools and we are thankful for the increased funding for these programs.”
“We thank Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee Chairman Roy Blunt and House Subcommittee Chairman Tom Cole for their incredible support of charter schools and the students and families that they serve. We also applaud the leadership of President Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos as well as subcommittee Ranking Members Senator Patty Murray and Representative Rosa DeLauro, who worked in a bipartisan way to support the CSP to provide high-quality education options for all students.”
This increase is a clear acknowledgement of the success of the program and the need for additional funding to support the continued growth of public charter schools. There are a potential 5.3 million additional students that would attend a charter school today given the opportunity. We hope that this increase will help fill that gap.About the Charter Schools Program
The CSP is currently funded at $342 million and provides funds to help new charter schools open, replicate and expand the most successful charter school models, as well as support the financing of charter school facilities.
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 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 www.publiccharters.org.
