7 in 10 Americans favor charter schools
WASHINGTON, D.C. – A new PDK/Gallup poll released today reveals that support for charter schools has ticked up to 70 percent in 2014 – up from 68 percent in 2013. The poll also found that a majority of Americans believe students at public charter schools receive a better education than students at other public schools.
“It is great to see more Americans voicing their support for public charter schools,” said National Alliance for Public Charter Schools President and CEO Nina Rees. “With more than 6,400 schools serving 2.5 million students, public charter schools are playing an increasing role in our nation’s education system, and it is encouraging to see support continue to rise.”
The 46th Annual PDK/Gallup Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Towards the Public Schools also revealed that many surveyed “misunderstand charter schools, believing that they can charge tuition and admit students based on ability, and nearly half believe they can also teach religion.”
Public charter schools do not charge tuition, cannot admit students based on ability, and are not allowed to teach religion. To set the record straight, the National Alliance recently released a report, Separating Fact and Fiction: What You Need to Know About Public Charter Schools. To help more Americans get the facts about charter schools, the non-profit group has launched a four-week Truth About Charters seriesaddressing some of the most common myths.
“We are concerned that more than 20 years after the first public charter school opened their doors, many still misunderstand the nature of public charter schools,” continued Rees. “We will continue to do our part to help inform families across the country of both the facts and benefits of high-quality public charter schools.”
To learn more about the Truth About Charters campaign and find a copy of the paper, visit
publiccharters.org/TruthAboutCharters or join the conversation on social media using the hashtag #TruthAboutCharters.
About Public Charter Schools
Public charter schools are independent, public, and tuition-free schools that are given the freedom to be more innovative while being held accountable for advancing student achievement. Since 2010, all but one independent research study has found that students in charter schools do better in school than their traditional school peers. For example, one study by the Center for Research on Education 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.
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, please visit our website at www.publiccharters.org.
