Mayor Bloomberg Named 2008 Champion for Charters During National Charter Schools Week

U.S. Senator Carper of Delaware, California Governor Schwarzenegger, and Colorado State Senator Groff also Named 2008 Champions for Charters

WASHINGTON, May 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- For his continuing strong support of public charter schools, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is being named tomorrow a 2008 Champion for Charters. The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, the leading organization supporting the expansion of quality charter schools, presents the award.

The Alliance's award is given to leaders who:

• Have championed a major public charter issue or initiative, particularly over the past year
• Serve as a highly visible public charter school advocate
• Consistently support public charter schools as a quality school choice option and/or policy

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has advocated and supported the significant growth of public charter schools since taking over the city's public school system in 2002. Under his and Schools Chancellor Joel Klein's direction, the New York City Public Schools have given charter schools free access to district facilities, start-up funding of $15 million and provided additional support for special education students in charter schools. Mayor Bloomberg also provided critical support to raising the state-imposed cap on charter schools in New York.

"Improving public education is politically difficult, but Mayor Bloomberg stands out as a forward-thinking leader who recognizes that America's parents and children deserve to have high-quality public education options," said Nelson Smith, president of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

U.S. Senator Carper of Delaware, California Governor Schwarzenegger, and Colorado State Senator Groff also are being named 2008 Champions for Charters during National Charter School Week 2008, which runs May 5 through May 9 with the theme "Growing Excellence." Public charter schools around the nation are hosting and participating in activities to mark the movement's success and growth, and are participating in a dynamic video campaign to create and share with state and federal legislators short videos highlighting the success of their schools.

In a Capitol Hill Briefing also tomorrow, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools will release results of a new national opinion survey on public charter schools and a compendium of new public charter school statistics.

Nationwide in 40 states and Washington DC, over 4,300 public charter schools enroll more than 1.2 million public school students. In fall of 2007, 350 more public charter schools opened and an additional 115,000 public school students enrolled in charters.

The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (www.publiccharters.org) is the national nonprofit organization committed to advancing the charter school movement. The Alliance works to increase the number of high performing charter schools available to all families, particularly low-income and minority families who currently do not have access to quality public schools. The Alliance provides assistance to state charter school associations and resource centers, develops and advocates for improved public policies, and serves as the united voice for this large and diverse movement.