Earlier today, the U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly in favor of the bipartisan “Success and Opportunity through Quality Charter Schools Act” (H.R. 10) by a margin of 360-45. This bill would reauthorize the federal Charter Schools Program and put several new provisions into law that would provide better support to charter school start-ups and help replicate and expand high-quality charter school models. Special thanks go to Ranking Education Committee Member George Miller and Congressman Jared Polis for their leadership in co-authoring the bill and shepherding it through the legislative process.
The story behind the numbers is that the work we are doing together to stand up for the little guy and support better schools for all kids is clearly paying off with Democrats. Democrats voted in favor of H.R. 10 by a margin of 158 to 34. The number of Democrats who voted yes today increased by a margin of 12 as compared to the number of Democrats who voted for the charter school reauthorization bill in 2011. Seven fewer Democrats voted no.
This is the cumulative effect of all the progress we’ve made with Democrats across the nation at the state and local levels. Four of the new yes votes were from Washington State Democrats whose voters approved a charter school referendum – with the help of people like you – in 2012.
Please join us in supporting our ed reformers of the month to keep the momentum going and help these good Demcorats stand up for equity, quality, accountability, and a strengthened public education system.
Charles Barone has more than 25 years of experience in education service, research, policy, and advocacy. Prior to joining Democrats for Education Reform (DFER) full-time in January of 2009, Barone worked for five years as an independent consultant on education policy and advocacy. His clients, in addition to DFER, included the Citizens’ Commission on Civil Rights, the Education Trust, The Education Sector, and the National Academy of Sciences. Read more here.