Chamber Study Touts Benefits of Charter Schools

Businesses and communities facing a shortage of skilled and educated workers should throw their weight behind public charter schools, according to a new study released by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

"Public charter schools are without a doubt one of the nation's most promising efforts to produce more great public schools," says Arthur Rothkopf, Chamber senior vice president and head of the Chamber's Institute for a Competitive Workforce (ICW). "With the critical need for a well-educated workforce, we must do everything we can to improve the supply."

The 60-page report, "Corporations, Chambers, and Charters: How Businesses Can Support High-Quality Public Charter Schools," warns that while two-thirds of the new jobs being created in the U.S. require advanced training or a college education, 1.2 million students drop out of high school every year.

The report recommends that businesses and chambers work to strengthen charter schools in the following ways:
• Build a robust supply of high-quality new schools in the communities that need them   
• Fuel the pipeline of human capital needed to operate the schools
• Address critical operational challenges the schools face 
• Forge charter-friendly public policies through state and local lawmaking

The report was released at ICW's Education and Workforce Summit in Philadelphia on October 20 and was published in partnership with the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools and the Doris & Donald Fisher Fund.

Read the report.

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