Alliance Responds to Schott Report on Black Male Student Achievement

Public Charter Schools in Chicago and Other Cities are Succeeding Where
Traditional Schools Fail

CHICAGO, July 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A report to be released Friday
(July 25) by the Schott Foundation for Public Education at the Unity '08
Convention in Chicago reveals that public schools "fail to educate" more than
one-half of Black males in America.

However, a significant exception to this sobering report is recent evidence
that public charter schools - including several in the Chicago area - are
succeeding where traditional schools have failed.

"Attending a charter high school in Chicago increases a Black student's chance
of graduating from high school and enrolling in college," according to one of
four studies summarized in "The Color of Success: Black Student Achievement in
Public Charter Schools," released by the National Alliance for Public Charter
Schools earlier this month.

The report is available at
http://www.publiccharters.org/files/publications/NAPCS_ShadesofSuccessIB.pdf

In Chicago alone, four public charter schools are among several that have been
outstanding successes in helping to improve academic performance among young
Black male students. (For more information, reporters may contact school
officials listed below.)

Urban Prep Charter Academy for Young Men. Chicago's first and only public
charter high school for young men opened in 2006 and has a student body which
is 100% African-American male. Urban Prep boasts a 94% retention rate and a
92% daily attendance rate. In their first year, students showed significant
gains on standardized tests, raising the average composite scores, when
compared with the district, from the 35th percentile to 74th percentile.

Chicago International Charter School - Longwood Campus (Longwood).
Approximately 98% of Longwood students are Black, and 84% qualify for the
federal free and reduced lunch program. On the Illinois Standardized
Achievement Test, 90% of elementary and junior high school students met or
exceeded state standards in reading and 74% met or exceeded standards in
science.

North Lawndale College Prep (NLCP). 100% of NLCP graduates for years 2002 -
2007 were accepted to at least one college or university - with many of these
students the first in their family to go to college. 90% of NLCP seniors
graduate, and 90% of those graduates go on to college. Three-quarters of NLCP
alumni are still enrolled or have already earned college degrees.

Perspectives Charter School - Rodney D. Joslin Campus (formerly South Loop).
The Perspectives flagship campus has graduated 225 students since 2000, and
78% of the last three graduating classes are still in college, ranking
Perspectives fourth out of 77 non-selective public schools in Chicago. More
than 90% of 2007 graduates started college last fall and 100% of this year's
graduates have been accepted to two or four-year colleges.

About Public Charter Schools

Nationally, public charter schools enroll a higher percentage of minority
students (60% vs. 46%) and low-income students (52% vs. 40%) than traditional
public schools. More than 4,300 public charter schools teach 1.2 million
public school students in 40 states and Washington D.C.

Charter schools are public schools with unique traits that increase the
likelihood of academic success for a child. They have increased flexibility
to adapt to the educational needs of individual children, and operate within a
multi-tiered accountability system that leads to quality schools and high
achievement. Parents elect to send their children to charters, and teachers
choose to work in them.

The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (www.publiccharters.org) is
the national nonprofit organization committed to advancing the charter school
movement. The Alliance works to increase the number of high performing
charter schools available to all families, particularly low-income and
minority families who currently do not have access to quality public schools.
The Alliance provides assistance to state charter school associations and
resource centers, develops and advocates for improved public policies, and
serves as the united voice for this large and diverse movement.

SOURCE National Alliance for Public Charter Schools

Bill Schulz, +1-202-521-2828, or Sarah Johnson, +1-202-521-2826,
pressroom@publiccharters.org, both of National Alliance for Public Charter
Schools; or Tim King, Founder & CEO of Union Prep Charter Academy,
+1-312-276-0259; or Robert Lang, Director of Schools, +1-773-239-5350, or Dr.
Andrea Brown-Thirston, Chief Academic Officer, +1-312-651-5000, both of
Chicago International Charter School - Longwood Campus; or John Horan,
President of North Lawndale College Prep, +1-773-542-6766 ext. 404; or Traci
Wright, Principal of Perspectives Charter School, +1-312-604-2176,
twright@perspectivescs.org