Eileen B. Sigmund, president and CEO of the Arizona Charter Schools Association, has made the following statement:
“Arizona charter schools are public schools and open to every Arizona family. That is the law and has been the guiding principle behind the charter movement over the past two decades.
Public charter schools are meeting tremendous public demand, and 185,000 Arizona students now attend a charter school of their choice. Contrary to the spurious and misleading allegations contained in an ACLU hit piece, enrollment data across charter schools demonstrate they are educating a student population that is increasingly diverse and representative of Arizona’s student body.
It is clear this attack makes broad-brush accusations that are misleading or are not violations of the law. The reason is simple: The ACLU has an anti-charter agenda. That’s why, despite the fact that district schools enroll approximately 84 percent of Arizona students, the ACLU purposefully limited its inquiry to charter schools. The ACLU has taken a similar tact in issuing anti-charter ‘reports’ in other states, with the unspoken intent to roll-back school-choice laws and undermine the ability of families to determine what school is best for their children.
Fortunately, the ACLU’s views on public charter schools do not represent the opinions of tens of thousands of Arizona families who’ve chosen charter schools. On the most important measure – student performance – Arizona’s public charter students have outperformed their statewide peers for the past three years, topping state and national indicators of academic success. In fact, during that time, public charter students in all racial and ethnic groups outperformed the state average on AzMERIT for their group in math and English. These results demonstrate public charter students of all backgrounds are receiving a quality education.
We will continue to draw a bright line against any practices that violate state and federal law. We recommend schools review their policies annually, and we routinely provide support and advice for member schools, including this Admissions and Enrollment Brief, and through workshops and trainings. Moreover, on behalf of Arizona’s more than 500 public charter schools, we will remain a champion of policies that ensure parents have quality choices when it comes to the education of their children. Forcing any child to stay in a failing school is what real enrollment suppression looks like.”
