SCHOOL MANAGEMENT COMPANIES FORM NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF EDUCATION PROVIDERS FOUNDED TO ADVANCE OPTIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR PARENTS AND STUDENTS
Move Solidifies Providers as Key Component of Communities' School Systems
Washington, DC - Six of the nation's leading education provider companies today announced the formation of the National Council of Education Providers (NCEP), founded to serve as an alliance in working to ensure quality education opportunities for families across the nation.
"The National Council of Education Providers was founded with a very clear vision: to provide all parents with schooling options, within their communities, that ensure their children receive a quality education," said NCEP chairman and CEO of Charter Schools USA, Jon Hage. "That is a vision we have long pursued as individual providers and that we now pursue jointly, as a council, working together to see to it that all of our students receive the support they need and deserve."
The six NCEP-member companies operate 253 schools in 23 states and the District of Columbia and serve more than 140,000 students in elementary, middle, and high school.. NCEP's founding members are: Jon Hage, NCEP's Chairman as well as CEO of Charter Schools USA, Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Michael Connelly, CEO Mosaica Education, New York, NY; J.C. Huizenga, Chairman, National Heritage Academies, Grand Rapids, MI; Mark Thimmig, CEO, White Hat Ventures, Akron, OH; Octavio Visiedo, CEO, Chancellor Beacon Academies, Coconut Grove, Florida; and Chris Whittle, CEO, Edison Schools, New York, NY.
According to Hage, NCEP will serve as an advocate for educational equity, opportunity, innovation and performance: opportunity through quality educational options for families, equity to ensure fairness in funding so that children can succeed, innovation through development of new technologies and programs to guarantee better education and academic achievement, and performance, focusing on accountability as a core principle of schools and in so doing, driving accountability throughout the public education spectrum.
"Parent desires for education reform - for quality, accountability, responsiveness - have changed America's education landscape dramatically. They're demanding options and are looking for educational opportunities that best meet their children's needs. And rightfully so. Our schools are a substantive, effective response to those demands, and represent a growing component of providing parents with an effective community school system. NCEP will help further that role and make sure the voices or our parents and the needs of our students are heard and met."