Thousands of Parents Stand Today for Public School Choice

Today will mark a historic day in the state's charter school movement, as several thousand parents will assemble to march on the Los Angeles Unified School District to demand choice, equity and accountability within California's public school system. School districts like Los Angeles Unified continue to stifle the growth of charter schools -- public schools that are free to be more innovative and are held accountable for improved student achievement -- by denying our students the equal access to education, facilities and resources to which they're entitled as public school students.

Los Angeles voters passed more than $80 million in construction bond money in order to narrow the inequities that charter schools currently face, and yet Los Angeles Unified continues to deny their students sufficient and adequate classroom space. Last week's editorial in the Los Angeles Daily News, "LAUSD flouts law, fails obligation to promising charter schools" captured the district's latest efforts to stifle charters.

United, the state's charter community is launching Families That Can California's first organization of charter school parents, grandparents and family members that are standing to defend their public school choice. More than 100 charter schools representing tens of thousands of students in the state have already joined this movement. Our goal is to organize the families of the 240,000 students who attend charter schools in California.

Charter school students are public school students and they are succeeding against the odds, particularly for underserved African-American and Latino students. Parents are standing up to defend their choice in public education and raising their collective voice to say they will no longer be treated like second-class citizens.