Florida Laws Friendly To Charter School Growth, Group Says
publiccharters.org
Florida is ranked among the strongest states for creating an environment where charter schools can flourish.
Florida ranks 5th among states poised for charter school growth, according to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NAPCS).
The report released today finds that Florida is among the states that are “best positioned to support the growth of high-quality charter schools” based on NAPCS model law.
This is the fourth year the group has examined state laws to determine which states best support charter schools, and the ones where students are most in need of better public school options.
42 states plus the District of Columbia are included in the rankings.
Twenty components are considered when ranking the states. They include measuring quality and accountability, equitable access to funding and facilities, and limited caps on charter school growth.
The top 10 states:
- Minnesota
- Maine
- Washington
- Colorado
- Florida
- Louisiana
- California
- New York
- Indiana
- New Mexico
“States with weak or no charter laws are basing new legislation on the experiences of states with stronger laws,” said Nina Rees, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, “while states that fell in the rankings did so because other states enacted stronger laws.”
The report found that Mississippi has the weakest charter school law, followed by Maryland, Alaska, Kansas, and Virginia.
States that don’t have such laws and aren’t part of the report: Alabama, Kentucky, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and West Virginia.
NAPCS is a nonprofit organization committed to advancing the charter school movement.
As of this month, the group says over 2.3-million students are enrolled in more than 6,000 charter schools in the U.S.
