Charter school CEOs criticize President Trump’s budget proposal

The CEOs of three charter school operations criticize President Trump’s budget proposal for cuts to public education in an op-ed in USA Today.

While thankful Trump’s budget would boost funding for the federal Charter Schools Program, they write they oppose cuts to other public education programs.

We cannot support the president’s budget as currently proposed and we are determined to do everything in our power to work with Congress and the administration to protect the programs that are essential to the broader needs of our students, families and communities. Budgets are statements of priorities, and this one sends a clear message that public education is not a top priority.

The chief executive officers of Achievement First, Uncommon Schools and the KIPP Foundation write they did not approve of cuts to programs such as Pell grants, which help low-income students attend college.

They also do not support cutting Americorps, which enables 80,000 Americans to serve in their communities. Americorps supports programs like City Year and Teach for America, which bring tutors and teachers into high-poverty schools. The charter executives write the service program has “proven vital to our nation’s efforts to inspire a new generation of teachers.”

Trump’s budget proposal would set aside $1.4 billion for charters and other school choice initiatives. But the charter school leaders write that “we need federal support for all schools, for all kids, not just kids in ‘choice’ schools.”

Trisha Coad, director for new site development for KIPP, which operates 200 charter schools, including three in Jacksonville, made similar comments yesterday at the Florida Senate Education Committee.

“We find it’s helpful to operate in communities where there is a strong educational ecosystem, meaning that there are a variety of programs to recruit and retain teachers, and programs that make higher education affordable to our students and students from similar backgrounds,” she said.


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BY Livi Stanford

Livi Stanford is former associate editor of redefinED. She spent her earlier professional career working at newspapers in Kansas, Massachusetts and Florida. Prior to her work at Step Up For Students, she covered the Lake County School Board, County Commission and local legislative delegation for the Daily Commercial in Leesburg. She has a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Kansas.