Giving Compass' Take:

•  At the 2019 National Charter School Conference, there are three ways that leaders can advance the charter school movement: grow the pool of high-quality charters schools, expand into new regions, and gain more political power and momentum. 

• How are charter schools affecting your local school district? How would charter school expansion further impact local schools in your community?

• Read about the history of the charter school movement and the role of state governance. 

At the 2019 National Charter Schools Conference, beginning June 30 in Las Vegas, we will be celebrating innovators who are reimagining education. We’ll hear from visionaries who have expanded opportunity by disrupting education. We’ll highlight the ways charter schools are pushing boundaries, trying new approaches and helping students with diverse learning styles find a school where they feel encouraged and challenged to set high expectations and meet them.

Study after study confirms that high-quality charter schools, led by dedicated teachers and principals, help students raise their achievement levels. Charter schools are a good public investment, too, producing a 50 percent higher return on education dollars than traditional district schools, according to researchers at the University of Arkansas.

In Vegas, I’ll be urging our leaders to do three things to step up our offensive game and advance our schools:

First, we need to grow the pool of high-quality charter schools by being more open to newcomers. There are a lot of passionate educators with great ideas for charter schools, but many are dissuaded by a process that has become overly cumbersome and fraught with political tension.

Second, we need to expand into new regions. Our movement has been focused on inner cities because that’s where the need is greatest — and it’s where we’ve delivered our biggest successes. But educational innovation is also important in rural and suburban communities, and our political livelihood depends on growing our base of support.

Third, and most importantly, we need to awaken the political power of our movement. If we’re going to win this fight, our movement needs to convince school boards, mayors, governors, members of Congress, presidential candidates and anyone else with a say in education policy that our schools and students deserve their support.

Read the full article about reinvigorating the charter school movement by Nina Rees at The 74.