New Schools for Baton Rouge fully supports the approval of the recently submitted charter applications of BASIS.Ed, Community School for Apprenticeship Learning, KIPP Public Schools, and Mentorship Academy. While we have made significant progress in improving access, there is still a great need in Baton Rouge. With more than 20,000 students currently being served in the 43 schools in our city rated by the state accountability system as D or F, we must continue to expand high-quality options for students. All types of families, whether those feeling trapped with assignments to underperforming schools or those sacrificing financial opportunities because they feel private schools are the only escape, deserve free, open-enrollment public schools that deliver on the promise of strong outcomes. Baton Rouge has been fortunate to have attracted some of the best school operators in the country who bring to the table proven track records of success. We fully support the applications of these schools to the EBR board. I urge the board to approve these applications and to continue to work to provide Baton Rouge students with the education they deserve.Chris MeyerCEO & President