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Earlier this month, the National Association of Charter School Authorizers announced their “One Million Lives” Campaign.
The goal of the campaign is simple but bold: to provide children in struggling schools across the country with access to one million additional seats in 4,000 high-performing public charter schools over the next five years. NACSA believes that to get there we will have to open more high-quality public charter schools but also close the charter schools that are failing their students.
Here at 50CAN we have always supported public school choice and fought for statewide polices that enable outstanding public charter schools to thrive. Our successful Put Achievement First campaign, for example, enabled a nationally lauded charter network Achievement First to open two new schools in Providence, Rhode Island. In Pennsylvania, PennCAN fought to expand school choice in its first-ever legislative campaign. In Maryland, MarylandCAN campaigned for a better charter school law and also helped keep one successful school open.
In addition to supporting choice, however, we also strive to improve accountability. So while our state campaigns work to help public charter schools expand and operate autonomously, they also work hard to ensure that these schools are held to high standards. If a public charter school is not preparing students for career and post-secondary success, we believe there should be consequences.
50CAN is excited to partner with NACSA in this campaign and will keep fighting until all 50 states have policies in place that allow great schools—traditional and charter alike—to thrive and serve the students who need them most. Because great schools really do change everything.