Former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan praised public charter schools Tuesday, saying they help students, especially in low-income neighborhoods.

“I think we have more charters that are making a real difference in kid’s lives, however you define it, and that’s a great thing,” Duncan said at a charter schools event hosted by the centrist Brookings Institution. He was referring to studies showing that students who attended charter schools boost their lifetime earnings, do better academically and learn extra days’ worth of reading and mathematics, among other benefits. Those benefits are particularly strong in “communities who need the most help,” Duncan says.