The mission of the Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools (LAPCS) is to improve education in Louisiana by supporting, promoting, and advocating for excellent public charter schools. LAPCS is the only statewide entity dedicated to advocating for charter schools at both the state and local levels, providing information to legislators, district officials, and policymakers about the issues that are important to charter schools and organizing the charter school community to support policies that provide charter schools the autonomy and flexibility necessary to successfully educate the children of Louisiana. Founded in 2002, LAPCS is a leader in the state’s extensive effort to improve public school quality. Upon its conception, LAPCS was initially run on a volunteer basis with no formal membership structure or funding. As the charter movement grew, funding was secured to hire its first Executive Director, Caroline Roemer Shirley, in the fall of 2007. Since then, LAPCS has increased membership to more than 90% of all public charter schools in the state.