Dear FCCS Family,
As we kick off a new school year, I am filled with a renewed, and perhaps cautious, optimism about the future of our country despite our challenges.
I know firsthand the positive impact charter schools make on Black and Latino students nationwide. FCCS is committed to amplifying these stories, like Utopian Academy for the Arts, Resurgence Hall, and Amana charter schools in Georgia that are helping prepare the state’s future workforce and elevate the quality of its public school system.
Despite the transformative power of community, representation, widespread support from voters and parents, and demonstrated academic outcomes – a disconnect persists among Democrats and Republicans about the power of charter schools and the real challenges facing public schools and the families they serve.
FCCS is committed to ensuring policymakers know that public education should be a priority and that charter schools are recognized for their successes. The right to choose quality public schools, including charters, is crucial for the future of our country. Schools that have historically failed our students and are complicit with the status quo are flat-out unacceptable.
Charter schools are a vital lifeline for Black and Latino families as findings from our recent poll of Black and Latino swing state voters show. Over the last month, I’ve had the opportunity to interact with social justice and civil rights groups and join a panel discussion hosted by Kairos Conversations to discuss the state of education according to voters based on this recent polling and unpack the implications for the future of public education.
The charter school narrative is far from complete. Our mission to provide quality educational alternatives needs fighters in the trenches, at the state house, and in the next administration. Here are two immediate ways you can be part of this work in September:
Thursday, September 5:
FCCS kicks-off the school year with our Monthly Policy and Advocacy Forums. Register here.
Congratulations to FCCS Board Member, Dr. Howard Fuller and Howard Fuller Collegiate Academy on your new building ribbon cutting 21 years in the making! As Dr. Fuller proclaimed, “This building is not about me. It is about us!”
Lastly, please Join me in welcoming our new LEE Policy Fellow, Erika DeLaRosa. Erika will use her experience in the classroom and her deep passion for educational equity to continue to work toward educational policies that benefit all children. Learn more about Erika.
In the school year ahead, we will find new opportunities to stretch our voices in new policy and political arenas that impact our communities and double down on those that already exist. We will challenge power dynamics at every chance because we are moving forward in support of a public education system that prepares ALL of our students for their preferred future.
In solidarity,
Jay
Jay Artis-Wright
Executive Director
FCCS