WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (National Alliance) inducted federal, state and local elected officials as 2019 Champions for Charters and three leaders into its Charter School Hall of Fame.
This year’s bipartisan cohort of Charter Champions joins a distinguished body of Charter Champions dating back to the award’s inception in 2006. The 2019 honorees include:
Federal Charter Champions
Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA)
Representative Salud Carbajal (D-CA) (Rising Star Award)
Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA)
Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI)
Ranking Member Virginia Foxx (R-NC) (Lifetime Achievement Award)
Representative Joseph Morelle (D-NY) (Rising Star Award)
Representative Joe Wilson (R-SC)
State and Local Champions
LAUSD Board Member Nick Melvoin (CA)
Senator David Sokola (D-DE)
Representative Earl Jaques Jr. (D-DE)
Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran (R-FL)
Senator Manny Diaz, Jr. (R-FL)
Former Senator Phil Pavlov (R-MI)
Representative Rebecca Roeber (R-MO)
Assemblyman Marcos Crespo (D-NY)
Governor Bill Lee (R-TN)
Representative Harold Dutton Jr. (D-TX)
Former Speaker Greg Hughes (R-UT)
Senator Howard Stephenson (R-UT)
“For 13 years, the National Alliance has honored lawmakers at all levels of government who are making a difference for students by supporting high-quality charter schools,” said National Alliance President and CEO, Nina Rees. “All families deserve the chance to send their child to a great public school and nearly 5 million families would send their child to a public charter school if one were available to them. These lawmakers have provided families with opportunities to choose a school that will meet their child’s needs by advocating for charter schools both in their hometowns and across the nation. And for that we are immensely grateful.”Hall of Fame Inductees
Margaret Fortune, President and CEO of Fortune School of Education, California
Joe Nathan, Director of the Center for School Change, Minnesota
Fernando Zulueta, President of Academica, Florida
“Margaret, Joe, and Fernando are passionate education leaders in the charter school sector, and their students’ success demonstrates how commitment to innovation has served as a positive catalyst for student achievement,” said Rees. “Charter schools are often led by diverse community leaders and the 2019 inductees demonstrate that regardless of a school’s management structure or student demographic, when a compelling vision is cast by a great educator, all students can achieve success at the highest levels.”
The national Charter School Hall of Fame was established to recognize individuals and organizations who have had a profound and lasting impact on the charter school movement. Honorees will be officially inducted into the Hall of Fame at the 2019 National Charter Schools Conference (NCSC) from June 29 – July 3 in Las Vegas. The three 2019 honorees will join 38 esteemed inductees since the Hall of Fame’s inception in 2007. Register for NCSC19 at ncsc.publiccharters.org.
To learn more about other Charter Champions from 2019 and years past, click here. For more information about previous Hall of Fame Inductees, click here.
For more information about National Charter Schools Week, visit publiccharters.org.
