The coming year will be a critical time for the school choice movement in Arizona and nationally.

Rapid enrollment growth over the past 20 years has demonstrated the popularity of public charter schools when parents are given an option in their children’s education. In Arizona, 180,000 students now attend one of 547 charter schools across the state. Since 2007-08, charter enrollment nationally has more than doubled and now stands at nearly 3 million.

Even more impressive: Consider that another 1 million students are on waiting lists nationwide to attend a public charter school. Clearly, these schools are meeting a critical demand of American families.