WASHINGTON, D.C. — Yesterday, the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico ruled that public charter schools are constitutional and are a viable option to help rebuild the island’s education system.
National Alliance for Public Charter Schools President and CEO Nina Rees released the following statement:
“We are pleased at the court’s ruling upholding access to innovative, high-quality public school options. For Puerto Rico, today’s court decision is a critical step towards ensuring that the public education system puts children first. Now the hard work begins as parents, teachers, and community leaders come together to provide much needed charter school options to the children of Puerto Rico. We welcome the opportunity to help Puerto Rico work through implementation to ensure the charter sector is able to grow and thrive.”
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.
