State of the Union Response: Charter
Schools Key to Addressing Income Inequality
National group says charter schools are already
meeting President's objectives
WASHINGTON,
D.C. — Tonight President Obama made
reducing the income inequality gap in America a top priority for this year. The
President announced two new education initiatives to help achieve his
objectives to “strengthen the middle class” and “build new ladders of opportunity
into the middle class.”
These education initiatives include an effort to connect 15,000 schools and 20
million students to the best technology and "redesigning high schools to
teach the real-world skills that students need" by announcing a $100 million
competition to connect students with industry-relevant education. The President
also stressed the importance of increasing the number of college graduates from
low-income families and making high-quality preschool more widely available.
Research has shown that a college education or some sort of technical degree is
the key to higher earnings for working adults. Workers with a college degree
have annual earnings between 25 and 50% higher than workers who have only
completed high school. Workers without a high school diploma earn three times
less than a worker with a college degree, and are much more likely to
experience unemployment at some time in their careers.
The income gap is even greater for minorities who don’t finish high school or
college. They earn almost two million dollars less over their lifetimes than
people who graduate from college.
“It’s clear that we need more American children to graduate from
college—especially children from minority and low-income backgrounds—if we ever
want to make a dent in the income gap," said Nina Rees, president and CEO
of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. “The high school students
who are prepared for college are already going, so we need to focus on making
sure our elementary, middle, and high schools are challenging traditionally
underserved students and preparing them for college and the workforce. Public
charter schools play a key role in this.”
Charter schools were created more than 20 years ago to get at exactly this
issue. They were designed with flexibility from traditional school system rules
with the purpose of helping close the achievement gap for low-income and
minority students. And they are doing just that. “That’s why President Obama
has been a significant supporter of charter schools,” continued Rees.
Nationwide, charter schools teach a higher percentage of minority and
low-income children—the very groups who are least likely to graduate from
college. But charter schools are showing that demographics aren’t destiny.
Charter schools have higher high school graduation rates and a higher
percentage of their students go on to college, compared to traditional public
schools. Research
released from the Center for Research on Educational Outcomes at Stanford
University shows that charter school students who are low-income, minority, and
still learning English, do better in school than their peers at traditional
public schools.
Even more important is that charter schools seem to be having a long-term
impact on earnings. A new
study from researchers at Mathematics shows students who graduated from
charter high schools in Florida and Chicago go on to earn more than their peers
in their first few years out of college. By their mid-20s, charter school
graduates in Florida are earning 12 percent more than their peers.
Charter schools are also able to adapt their curriculum and focus to better
prepare children for the jobs of the future. Twenty percent of all charter
schools nationwide focus on STEM education. Having more students enter college
programs in science, technology, engineering, and math is a key priority for
the Obama administration, and another area where charters are excelling.
Charter schools are already leading the nation in creating technology-enriched,
personalized learning environments through innovations like hybrid classrooms.
In a hybrid classroom, students spend part of the day in a traditional
lecture-style environment and part of the learning at their own pace with
computer-assisted lessons under the direction of a teacher. Charter schools
have also been early adopters of personalized learning tools, like the online
Khan Academy lessons, to help students advance their knowledge, or get the
remedial help they need.
“Charter schools aren’t a silver bullet—especially for disadvantaged children.
Disadvantaged children need access to other programs, like a high-quality
preschool, to make sure they are ready for school in the first place,” said
Rees. “We also need to make sure traditional public schools continue to
improve. That’s why school accountability requirements are important. Parents
and lawmakers need to know how well the schools in their community are doing so
we can recognize success and address challenges. That certainly requires
adequate funding for all schools and over the last few years, school funding
has gone down at the federal, state, and local levels.”
“We are encouraged that the President continues to make education a priority,”
Rees continued. “We have called for increased spending on the federal program
that supports the creation of new charter schools and the expansion of existing
charter schools with a proven track record. We believe the federal government
should commit $330 million in funding to start up and expand high-quality
charter schools. We don’t have to reinvent the wheel—we already know what’s
working and we need to invest in it.”
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, see the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools website at www.publiccharters.org.
