Accord Education Celebrates National Charter Schools Week
Engaging with leaders on Advocacy Day 2016
IRVINE, Calif., May 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Communities across the state will be celebrating the achievements of charter public schools during National Charter Schools Week, May 1-7, 2016. Additionally, many students, parents, teachers and leaders will be attending Advocacy Day on May 3, in Sacramento, California, including the Accord team. According to Matt Avsar, the CEO of Accord Education, "we are pleased to work with policymakers and leaders in education reform to ensure parents continue to have exemplary educational choices available to their children." To kick off this week's celebrations, here are a few facts about charter schools in California:
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Charter Schools Are Public Schools. Charter schools are independent, tuition-free public schools open to all students. Charter public schools are given the flexibility to be more innovative while being held accountable for improved student achievement. Charter public schools must adhere to federal and state education standards, as well as federal and state civil rights laws. According to the California Charter Schools Association, as of 2016, California has 1,230 charter schools – the highest number in the country – serving a diverse student body of 581,100 students.
Charter Schools Increase Student Achievement. Since 2010, several independent research studies have found that students in charter schools do better than their traditional school peers. The most recent of those studies, by the Center for Research on Educational Outcomes at Stanford University, found that charter schools do a better job teaching low income students, minority students, and students who are still learning English than traditional schools. Separate studies by the Center for Reinventing Public Education and Mathematica Policy Research have found that charter school students are more likely to graduate from high school, go on to college, stay in college and have higher earnings in early adulthood. To illustrate, consider Oakland, California: according to the California Charter School Association, "the average high school graduation rate at traditional district high schools has not budged from about 50% for the last three years," while the "average graduation rate at charter schools in 72%. Further, the dropout rate at charter schools is half that of the traditional schools."
Charter Schools Give Parents Public School Options. Parents want the best education possible for their children. Charter public schools give parents options within the public school system so they can find a school that best meets the needs of their child.
National Charter Schools Week is May 1-7, 2016. For more information on California charter schools, please visit the California Charter Schools Association website at www.ccsa.org. For more information on national charter schools, please visit the National Alliance for Charter Public Schools website at www.publiccharters.org.
About Accord Education – Accord Education is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2007 to support and advance quality public charter schools. Their dedicated and expert team of educators provides a comprehensive suite of services to public charter schools, to build academic and operational excellence. To learn more, visit the official website at https://www.accordeducation.org
Contact: Holly Kekacs
Telephone: (949) 387-4848
Website: https://www.accordeducation.org
SOURCE Accord Education
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