Nina Rees selected as the new CEO to lead the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools

Today, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NAPCS) announced it selected Nina Rees as its new president and CEO.  Ms. Rees is a former senior vice president for global education provider Knowledge Universe, former head of the Office of Innovation and Improvement at the U.S. Department of Education, where she oversaw the D.C. vouchers program, and a former senior education analyst at the Heritage Foundation.

According to the NAPCS press release, Ms. Rees will be "formally introduced in her new position at the 12th annual National Charter Schools Conference, which begins on June 19 in Minnesota in front of nearly 4,000 attendees.  Rees’s appointment also coincides with the 20th anniversary of the nation’s public charter school movement."  She is the third individual to hold this position since the organization’s inception in 2005, preceded by founding CEO Nelson Smith, who held the position from 2005 to 2010, and Peter Groff, who served from 2010 to 2011.

Rees currently serves on the board of advisors of the Education Policy and Governance Program at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, the Apple Tree Institute for Education Innovation and the review board for The Broad Prize for Public Charter Schools. She also serves on the board of directors of the Charter School Development Corporation and the Education Industry Association.

“The spirit of the charter school movement is embedded in the hearts of those who are running charter schools, and we need to leverage this more effectively and operate with a greater sense of urgency.” Rees added. “My focus will be to help replicate effective models, attract new education entrepreneurs and further garner bipartisan support. After two decades, it's clear that charter schools can help preserve the American ideal of a quality public education. The challenge for the next two decades is to build on past accomplishments to ensure that every child can realize the benefits of high-quality public schools.”

To read more about Nina Rees and her background as a passionate advocate for educational choice and quality schools, click here.  Nina is a fantastic selection to lead the nation's leading organization advocating for better schools.