H.R. 2218 – “EMPOWERING PARENTS THROUGH QUALITY CHARTER SCHOOLS” – IS A GOOD START
BUT CLOCK IS TICKING ON OTHER ESSENTIAL – AND OVERDUE – EDUCATION REFORMS
Democrats for Education Reform strongly supports the bipartisan Empowering Parents through Quality Charter Schools Act (H.R. 2218) that will be marked up today in the House Education and Workforce Committee. H.R. 2218 includes important provisions that allow high-quality public charter schools to serve more students and that incentivize states to expand and replicate high-performers. The bill also rightly compels states to ensure that public charter schools meet their obligations to English Language Learners and students with disabilities, and makes important improvements with regard to reporting, oversight, and accountability.
“Right now in Atlanta, thousands of public charter school parents, teachers, and administrators from across the country are sharing what they have learned and charting their course for the future,” said Charles Barone, DFER Director of Federal Policy about the National Charter Schools Conference where President Clinton, who signed the first federal charter school bill into law in 1994, spoke yesterday and was given a hero’s welcome.
“The charter school movement is made-up of the most can-do, have done, group of parents, teachers, and school reformers you’re ever likely to meet. Only the wrong-headed or hard-hearted would do anything other than give them as much help and support as humanly possible.”
We are disappointed that the bill lowers the authorized funding levels for federal charter schools programs from the $450 million level in current law. We do, however, appreciate that the $300 million authorization in H.R. 2218 is at least higher than the current $256 million in actual funding. While it would take a much higher increase to serve all children across the country who are on charter school waiting lists, we appreciate this small step forward and hope to work with Congress throughout the legislative process to ensure that we do as much as possible to reach our shared goal of giving all parents the first public school of their choice.
We do have some additional concerns that we believe should be addressed as the bill makes its way through the legislative process.