Interviews

The Charter School Movement Looks Ahead, with Nina Rees

Nina Rees is the president and chief executive officer of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

The Enrollhand Team

Oct 17, 2019 • 2 min read

“I do think the future is going to be more personalized; our (charter) schools are well-equipped to fit into this future because we are nimble and we don’t have to coordinate with a centralized bureaucracy before we make a change.” - Nina Rees

Audio version:

Summary

Nina Rees is the president and chief executive officer of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. After working for more than 20 years in Washington, D.C., including at Knowledge Universe, the U.S. Department of Education, and working as a deputy assistant for domestic policy to Vice President Dick Cheney, she needs no introduction in the education sector. She is passionate about the ultimate goal of charter schools to provide options for families who want an innovative public school education for their child.

Nina offers a forthright talk with us about the accomplishments of the charter school movement, the challenges it faces, and the future that it aspires to shape. Whether your school is public or private, there is much to be learned from what charter schools have done, where they are headed, and how they see their value proposition.

Listen as Nina shares her vision of the future of the charter movement.

Quotes:

08:13 “Ultimately, what we’re trying to do in most places is to take low-income families and get them to and through college in order for them to move out of poverty.”

16:45 “I do think the future is going to be more personalized; our (charter) schools are well-equipped to fit into this future because we are nimble and we don’t have to coordinate with a centralized bureaucracy before we make a change.”

21:40 “I think it’s important for policymakers to bridge the gap and create ‘convenings’ where the two sectors (traditional system and charter system) have to sit down together.”

Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:

The B.A. Breakthrough by Richard Whitmire https://breakthrough.the74million.org/

The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools - https://www.publiccharters.org/

Prenda Schools - https://prendaschool.com/

Valor Collegiate Academies - https://valorcollegiate.org

Summit Public Schools - https://summitps.org

New Tech High School - https://www.newtechhigh.org/

Big Picture Learning - https://www.bigpicture.org/

How The Other Half Learns: Equality, Excellence, and the Battle over School Choice by Robert Pondiscio

Tom Vander Ark - www.tomvanderark.com

Transcend - www.transcendeducation.org

KinderCare - https://www.kindercare.com