WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the National Alliance released the following statement on the teachers’ union strike taking place in Chicago:
“As advocates for all public charter school students, the National Alliance hopes that the Chicago Teachers Union and Acero Schools (Acero) can come to an agreement quickly and amicably so that teachers can do what they do best, teach. According to 2015 – 2016 Common Core Data, Acero serves a population that is 96 percent Hispanic and 94 percent of their students receive free and reduce priced lunch. In the 2017 – 2018 Chicago Public Schools “School Quality Rating Policy” rankings, nine Acero schools ranked in the highest performance levels in the city. Without a doubt, Acero provides high quality public school options to Chicago’s most underserved students. Our focus is on the 7,500 students and families who are negatively impacted by this strike and we hope a quick resolution will get them back where students need to be: in the classroom. With student learning on the line, there is no time to waste.”
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.
