The National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) has announced twelve individuals who will serve as members of their National Advisory Board. NACSA’s National Advisory Board is composed of leaders from some of America’s most dynamic and respected educational institutions and foundations, focused on reform of public education.

“We are honored to have been able to attract this distinguished group of experts to help us in our next phase of work. These are leaders who know and appreciate what we do, and recognize the central place authorizing holds in bringing higher quality to the charter movement,” said James N. Goenner, NACSA board chairman and Executive Director of the Center for Charter Schools at Central Michigan University. The members are as follows:

Steve Barr-Founder & CEO, Green Dot Public Schools

Alan Bersin-Former Secretary of Education, California

Arne Duncan -CEO, Chicago Public Schools

Mike Feinberg -Co-founder, Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) Superintendent, KIPP Houston

Howard Fuller-Founder and Director, Institute for the Transformation of Learning, Marquette University

Rick Hess- Resident Scholar and Director of Education Policy Studies,American Enterprise Institute

Paul Hill-Professor, University of Washington/Director, Center on Reinventing Public Education

Carol Lee-President-elect, American Educational Research Association/Founder, Betty Shabazz International Charter School

Nina Rees-Vice President for Strategic Initiatives,Knowledge Universe Learning Group

Andy Rotherham -Co-founder & Co-director, Education Sector

Nancy Searle-Searle Family Consultant to the Chicago Community Trust

Tom Vander Ark-President, X-Prize Foundation

Members of this board will be looked upon to give insight into authorizing and its future. Collectively, members will give NACSA’s strategic direction as the organization continues working to achieve the establishment and operation of quality charter schools through responsible oversight in the public interest. “This new Board provides us the support and confidence that we can reach our stretch goals which are crucial to improving practice in this young profession,” said President & CEO Greg Richmond. “My hope is that this group will also give us strategic insights by assessing our positioning and the results of our development and programmatic efforts over the next three years.”

NACSA was founded in 2000 by a small group of charter school authorizers who believed that the quality of authorizing practices could have a powerful impact on the quality and growth of charter public schools. Today, NACSA influences and supports authorizers across the 40 states that have charter school laws and the 4,000 charter public schools, serving over 1 million schoolchildren across America.