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This August, a group of wide-eyed sixth graders stepped off a school bus and onto Cal State Northridge’s campus. Some sixth graders look awestruck while others seem nervous. We often hear whispers like, “Do you think we’ll go here someday?”

That line of thinking is exactly the point.

At PUC Schools — Partnerships to Uplift Communities — we believe exposure creates aspiration. We bring our middle schoolers to this local university not just to visit but to imagine themselves there. This is one small way we live out one of our founding commitments: to uplift the communities we serve now and forever. 

At a time when California is tightening regulations on charter schools, our network of 14 Los Angeles area charters is showing what’s possible. We were founded 26 years ago on three core promises: to create small, rigorous learning environments where students are known and supported; to prepare every student for college success; and to uplift the communities we serve.

That last commitment might be the most radical. You can’t just hand out diplomas to truly uplift communities. You help students become the first in their families to go to college, help them access careers that support families and build wealth, and help them return home.

Since 1999, PUC has sent thousands of students from historically underserved neighborhoods in the Northeast San Fernando Valley and Northeast Los Angeles to college. A significant portion of our students have gone on to attend campuses within the California State University system, particularly Cal State Northridge. 

The very institutions where PUC graduates enroll are some of the most powerful engines of upward mobility. A recent study ranked Cal State Los Angeles number one in California for improving economic mobility for low- and moderate-income students; nine of the top 10 schools on that list are Cal State campuses. 

The success of our students is the result of a deliberate, decades-long commitment to equity, access, and excellence. It’s the result of our counselors walking students through financial aid assistance on the FAFSA, teachers staying late to write letters of recommendation, and families believing college isn’t just a dream.

When people ask how charter schools are supporting public education, I respond, “We’re changing communities through our students.”

We’re creating the conditions for students to climb as high as they want to go, whether college, career or beyond. We are a public school option that works.

However, families’ option to attend charter schools is under threat. Charter schools across the state are facing increased scrutiny, regulatory roadblocks and facility challenges that threaten our ability to continue this work. It is beyond time to recognize school choice for what it truly is: a pathway to opportunity, especially for families  who have historically been denied one.

Public charter schools like PUC are not a threat to public education – we are public education. We are proof that with the right conditions, schools can transform lives and uplift communities today and forever.

We’re still putting students on buses for college visits. We’re still sending graduates to Cal State campuses: nearly 600 graduates to CSU Northridge in the last five years, many of whom were once sixth graders on a field trip. We’re still watching alumni return to lead and serve in the very communities they grew up in.

When you’ve seen what education can do, you don’t let go of your purpose. You double down.

I ask our communities and elected officials: Let’s not limit families. Let’s expand access and embrace school choice as a vehicle for equity. Let’s keep building ladders.

Jacqueline Elliot is the co-founder of PUC Schools and CEO of PUC National.