As National Charter Schools week kicks off, charter public schools in California have so much to be proud of.   

These great public schools have an established track record of getting great results for all students, especially those from historically underserved communities. But in the last few weeks alone, charter schools in California have earned a great deal of state and national recognition for their academic performance. Here’s just a small sampling of that success:

• 4 of the top 10 best public high schools in California are charter schools, according to U.S. News and World Report’s 2019 Best High Schools rankings.
• 30 percent of California’s best high schools while only making up just above 10 percent of public schools in the state, according to U.S. News and World Report
• A new joint report by Innovate Public Schools and the University of Southern California found that nearly 60 percent of the Top Public Schools for closing the achievement gap in the Bay Area are charter schools.
• 27 percent of the Top Public Schools in Los Angeles are charter schools, according the same report.
• On the eve of College Signing Day earlier this month, our own data showed that 86 percent of charter public school students in Los Angeles are eligible for state universities, 24 points higher than their peers in traditional public schools.

 All of this comes against the backdrop of Sacramento politicians teaming up with special interests to pass legislation that would shut down great public schools and trap our state’s most vulnerable students in failing schools for years to come. Faced with that kind of blatant hostility, it makes the achievement of charter public school students, parents, teachers, and leaders all the more impressive.   

This week let’s celebrate and champion great public schools! The theme for this year’s NCSW is about what makes your charter school unique. Many schools across our state have a wonderful answer to that question. But for us here at CCSA, it circles back to why we need charter public schools to begin with: kids. Not for bureaucracy. Just simply for kids.

Want to celebrate and champion great public schools this week? Go here.

You can also contact your legislators and ask them to vote NO on the collection of harmful bills making their way through the legislature. Go here.