Dear FCCS Family,
A new voter poll shows that education is key to future economic success and demand for access to quality public school options. We couldn’t agree more – education is the key driver of economic empowerment and educational advancement.
We want to see a bold vision for educational equity from our elected leaders. This is why FCCS advocates passionately for equitable access to quality public schools led by people of color, including charter schools that offer Black and Brown families options to great public schools in communities nationwide.
FCCS attended the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Annual Luncheon & Business Expo with our partners from the Houston Citywide Council on Education The event featured Mayor John Whitmire as the keynote speaker and highlighted our collective commitment to quality public school options as a way to foster diversity and growth in the local business communities
In Nevada, we joined the Equity Facilities Fund to launch the Nevada Facilities Fund (NFF) this month. NFF is a first-of-its-kind, bipartisan partnership that benefits schools and students, and will help add 7,500 high-quality charter school seats across the state, targeting students most in need of great public schools.
Nationally, we support legislation to expand access to great Black and Brown-led charter schools. In partnership with the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, we call on congressional leadership to increase funding and flexibility to support access to facilities and support educators, particularly educators of color, who are inspired to open new schools. We are keeping our eye on two bills before Congress to increase the effectiveness and accessibility of the Charter School Program (CSP):
- The bipartisan Equitable Access to School Facilities Act (S. 1480) will ensure access to public property and provide federal grants to states for charter school facilities. Additional CSP funding will remove financial barriers to starting new schools and expanding existing high-performing schools.
- The Empower Charter School Educators to Lead Act (H.R. 6418 and S. 3072) will allow state grantees to allocate CSP grant funding for pre-planning grants for school leaders and educators looking to start high-quality public charter schools. This public support may be especially valuable to educators of color, from low-income backgrounds, or in rural areas who may have less access to philanthropic support.
Join us in urging Congress to boost CSP funding to $500 million next year to meet the growing demand for public school choice, supported by polling that shows that 75% of parents would choose this option if available.
And last but certainly not least, our 2nd Annual Legacy Award Gala, celebrating the remarkable achievements of Geoffrey Canada, is just weeks away! Check out our recently announced line-up of speakers. Tickets and sponsorship packages are currently still available. We can’t wait to see you on May 7 in New York!
Warmly,
Jay
Jay Artis-Wright
CEO
Freedom Coalition for Charter Schools (FCCS)