Nina Rees, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, released the following statement:
“This week the U.S. Supreme Court weighed in on two major issues that directly impact many charter school students, teachers and families. We applaud the court’s leadership in helping to protect millions of people in America, including members of the charter school community.
American public schools educate hundreds of thousands of students who were brought to this country as undocumented children. Many classrooms are also led by teachers who are undocumented but have never known any home outside the United States. For this reason, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is essential because it allows so many young people to learn, have a career and make positive contributions to this country without fear of immediate deportation. And yet, while it provides important protections, this ruling from the Supreme Court did not determine the future of DACA. Congress will still need to resolve this. Members of our communities and our education system are in a precarious situation through no fault of their own and need a permanent fix. The court’s action offers important temporary relief, but only Congress can provide a permanent remedy.
The high court also issued a ruling that protects gay, lesbian and transgender employees from being disciplined, fired or turned down for a job based on their sexual orientation. We are proud to count many members of the LGBTQ community as part of the charter school community and are pleased to see their rights will now be protected under the 1964 Civil Rights Act’s prohibition on sex discrimination.
Together these decisions will have a major impact on our nation, public education and the charter movement.”
