FCCS Executive Director Jay Artis-Wright issued the following statement today in response to President Biden’s FY 2025 budget request for the U.S. Department of Education.
“Less than a week after President Biden’s commitment to ensuring every student can read by the third grade, his decision to cut $40 million in funding from a program proven to help Black and Brown children achieve that goal is counterintuitive and deeply concerning. The Charter School Program (CSP) funding has been a lifeline for Black and Brown educators aspiring to build public schools that better meet their community’s needs and for parent voters of color who want better choices in where they send their kids to school. These schools are helping close the achievement gap for students of color, particularly those who also live in poverty. The same families desperately in need of educational options also make up an integral part of the Democratic Party and helped elect President Biden in 2020.
Reducing CSP funds not only undermines opportunities for families to access improved educational options but also damages the relationship President Biden should be cultivating with communities of color, particularly when their interests should be prioritized.