With this morning’s announcement by Democratic state legislators in Michigan proposing a moratorium on new charter schools in the state, Greg Richmond, President and CEO of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) released the following statement:

We agree that there are problems to be fixed. Indeed, we have taken a strong public position that more effective oversight is needed and that charter authorizers should be held accountable for the quality of their schools. This has not been popular with some authorizers and advocates.

But we also know that there are still many Michigan children who lack the opportunity to attend a good school. This is not an “either/or” situation. Michigan should both promote diligent, transparent oversight and create more good schools for children. Michigan children need better schools and Michigan taxpayers need those schools to be well run. Let’s do both, not one or the other.

We know that many Michigan charter schools are excellent. We also know that no school is good simply because it’s called a “charter school.” We must always push ourselves to improve and do better for children – and keep providing them with new, high-quality school options.”