Lizzette Gonzalez Reynolds is the Vice President of Policy for ExcelinEd.
Only a few years ago, the idea that “education is not a place” was provocative.
Quarantines and distance learning made this concept far less than provocative – it’s been the reality for families almost everywhere.
Even with most schools now open, families are still seeking educational choices and new kinds of opportunities for their children. It’s charter schools that continually answer this call.
The successes of charter schools across the country during the pandemic made a few things quite clear:
Modeling these ideals was New York’s Success Academy, which has been praised for its ability to transform into a digital school when less than half of U.S. school districts were offering any online instruction at all.
Rocketship Public Schools in Nashville, California’s Bay Area, Milwaukee and Washington, D.C., partnered teachers and mental health providers with families to make sure students’ core needs at home were met. The school’s “Care Corps” raised $400,000 for 800 families.
The Rooted School of Indianapolis brought in college students, retired teachers and professional tutors over winter break to focus on “unfinished learning” and tech-centered enrichment. The Rooted Schools use a curriculum that combines classes in coding, graphic design and software design along with typical coursework to prepare students for in-demand jobs.
And Dayspring Academy in Port Richey, Florida, equipped its students, most of whom are from low- to moderate-income families, with both the technology and the access to the internet that students needed to succeed during the pandemic. Dayspring provided each student with a tablet and partnered with a local internet provider to offer free internet. All high school graduates from Dayspring leave not only with a high school diploma, but an AA degree as well.
And in Texas-based IDEA Public Schools, they deeply invested in health and safety protocols and funded large-scale facility improvements to offer an in-person learning option for students.
These are just a handful of examples where student-centered public charter schools have innovated to meet the needs of their families and communities during the pandemic—and long before it as well. But these same schools have faced chronic underfunding for the past three decades. Now, with a massive influx of federal support, states have an unprecedented opportunity to make meaningful investments in these innovative institutions.
States can dedicate some of the astounding $123 billion in funds for Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) for “safe school re-openings and recovering learning loss” included in the most recent federal COVID-19 relief to expand high-quality charter schools.
Investing now in charter schools would allow the one-time COVID-19 relief funds to pay dividends for many years to come, creating a long-term framework for sustaining student success.
Students and their families have so much to gain in both the near- and long-term from greater investments in charter schools. As we begin to navigate toward economic recovery, with tremendous resources directly available for education, there is no reason to underfund these incubators of opportunity for students and communities.
Within four walls and online, charter schools across the U.S. have proven their worth in meeting students’ needs, fostering partnerships with parents and communities and providing pathways to opportunity. And demand for charter schools keeps growing: The number of students attending charter schools more than tripled between 2005 and 2017.
Utilizing COVID-19 relief funds to encourage charter school growth and creativity is a sound, long-term investment for our kids, families and communities.
