Democrats Leading the Way to Education Reform?

Democrats for Education Reform Calls on the Party to Recognize that Charters Produce Results

June 8, 2009 --In response to Education Secretary Arne Duncan's announcement today that grants from the $4.35 billion "Race to the Top" fund will be reliant on the effectiveness of state's public charter school policies, Democrats for Education Reform (DFER) championed the plan and the President's willingness to make good on the promises he made while campaigning. Central to DFER's mission is convincing Democrats that supporting public charter schools is good public policy.

"The word coming out of the Department of Education today is that the administration has the chops for being real change agents. Secretary Duncan is poised to withhold Race to the Top funds from states that don't have effective charter school laws. The irony is that so many of the state legislatures dragging their feet are controlled by Democrats. Its time for Democrats to wise up and realize that supporting public charter schools is the right thing to do."

"When Democrats, who have historically been proud supporters of public education, are the ones standing between the families we claim to represent and the public school options for which they clamor, we have to re-examine our priorities when it comes to schools." "There is no shortage of evidence, in places like California, New York, Boston, and elsewhere, public charter schools have shown they aren't killing public education. In fact, public charter schools are leading the charge to save public education and delivering results. Successful school models like KIPP, Achievement First, Green Dot, Aspire, and others provide proof points nationwide for what is possible in our schools. These public charter schools are offering parents the kinds of schools they want for their children and kids the education they deserve.

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