Mr. President, I am pleased that today the Senate passed a resolution to designate the week of May 1 through May 6, 2006 as National Charter Schools Week. I was joined in offering this resolution by…
Mr. President, I am pleased that today the Senate passed a resolution to designate the week of May 1 through May 6, 2006 as National Charter Schools Week. I was joined in offering this resolution by Senators Lieberman, Gregg, Frist, Carper, Vitter, Landrieu, Burr, Coleman, Allard, DeMint, and Martinez.
One of my last official acts as U.S. Secretary of Education in 1992 was to write a letter to every school superintendent in America urging them to create charter schools. That year, the Nation's first charter school had opened its doors in St. Paul, Minnesota. I saw charter schools as ways to remove burdensome rules, regulations, and overhead so that teachers could have more opportunities to use their good judgment to help children and so parents could have more choices of schools. This was the time when General Motors' newest automobile plant was a start-from-scratch facility making Saturn cars. Al Shanker, the late president of the American Federation of Teachers, said then, ``If we can have a Saturn plant, why not a Saturn school?'' A lot of educators agreed.
Today, there are over 3,600 charter schools serving more than 1 million students in 40 states and the District of Columbia. Over half of these schools report having waiting lists, and there are enough students on these waiting lists to fill another 1,100 average-sized charter schools.
Charter schools play a unique role in public education by offering students a variety of options to meet their different learning needs and styles. They
vary in specific mission and focus, but not in their commitment to excellence and preparing students to succeed. In return for autonomy and freedom from burdensome regulations and policies, they accept strict accountability for academic and fiscal success. If charter schools fail to educate their students well and meet the goals of their charters, they are closed.
Charter schools are raising student achievement. Research shows that charter school students are more likely to be proficient in reading and math than students in neighboring traditional schools, and that the greatest achievement gains can be seen among African American, Hispanic, and low-income students. Research also shows that the longer charter schools have been in operation, the more they outdistance traditional schools in student performance.
It is worth noting that not all charter schools are high-quality, and not all are outperforming traditional public schools. But charter schools whose students don't perform academically will close--as they should. It is also worth noting the impact charter schools are having on their neighboring traditional public schools. Districts with a large number of charter schools have reported that they are increasing interaction with parents and creating new education programs, many of which are similar to those offered by charter schools. These improvements benefit all our students, not just those who choose charter schools.
I am pleased that twelve charter schools have opened in Tennessee since passage of the State's charter school law in 2002. Ten of these charter schools are located in Memphis, where they enjoy critical support from local school officials, dedicated private partners, and philanthropic organizations.
Options for Memphis students range from programs for elementary students that stress mastery of reading, math, and foreign language skills to middle schools focused on health sciences and business. High school options include charter schools that emphasize science, liberal arts, or visual and performing arts.
I had an opportunity to visit one of these outstanding charter schools, the Memphis Academy of Science and Engineering (MASE), which was the first charter school established in Tennessee. MASE provides an academically challenging program to prepare at-risk students for college through an intensive math, science, engineering, and technology curriculum in grades 7-9, including the first ninth grade AP Biology class in the state. The school was established as an innovative public/ private initiative aimed not only at training a well-educated workforce for the city's rapidly growing bioscience industry, but also helping students excel in a technology-based environment, regardless of the career path they choose.
I am impressed by the school's clear record of achievement results. By the end of eighth grade, MASE students--who were failing or at risk of failing in their previous schools--more than doubled their pass rates on State reading, math and science tests compared to their achievement in sixth grade prior to entering MASE. Last year, MASE was the second highest performing school--public or charter--in Memphis, and a University of Memphis study found that MASE seventh graders scored better on the state math assessment than similar students in public schools.
Unfortunately, Tennessee's highly restrictive charter school law does not create the conditions that would enable more students to benefit from attending schools like MASE. The law received a grade of C in a recent Center for Education Reform study, which found that higher student achievement and higher-quality, more viable charter schools are found in States with stronger charter school laws.
Strong laws grant the power to approve charter schools to more than one entity, including local school boards, State education agencies, colleges and universities, and non-profit organizations. Strong laws also grant greater freedom and independence to charter schools, guarantee full per-pupil funding, and do not restrict the number of schools that may open or students who may enroll.
States should take the opportunity during National Charter Schools Week to examine their statutes and ensure that they create the conditions necessary to allow high-quality charter schools, and thereby options for students, to flourish.
Charter schools are also a key element of the education revival taking place in New Orleans, where Hurricane Katrina dealt a devastating blow to a school system already plagued by low achievement and corruption. The city has a truly historic opportunity to transform its education system into a network of high-performing charter schools that could serve as a model for urban education in the rest of the Nation.
So far, 25 of 117 public schools have reopened in New Orleans. 70 percent of these schools are charter schools managed by the Recovery School District, the Orleans Parish School Board, or the State Board of Education.
New Orleans officials are working diligently to open more schools to serve students as they return to the city. They have been assisted by a $21 million Federal Charter Schools Program grant, which helped reopen charter schools damaged by the hurricanes, create new charter schools, and expand existing charter schools to accommodate displaced students. I am encouraged that Louisiana continues to receive applications to open charter schools in New Orleans, but more work needs to be done to ready facilities for approved schools to accommodate the substantial student enrollment projected for this fall.
Charter schools in other parts of the country also leapt into action to serve students impacted by Katrina. After the hurricane, the high- performing Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP), in partnership with the Houston Independent School District and Teach For America, exhibited extraordinary leadership by quickly opening a new charter school in Houston--New Orleans West College Prep--to serve over 300 students in grades K-8 displaced by Hurricane Katrina.
According to KIPP co-founder Mike Feinberg, ``When there's a problem, we at KIPP roll up our sleeves and look for a solution. Together with the [Houston Independent] District and Teach For America, we hope to provide students not only with a safe haven, but also with a rigorous academic environment. Even if they are not at home, these students will receive a top-notch education with caring, committed teachers.'' Mr. Feinberg's comments exemplify the attitude that motivates so many in the charter school community--that of doing whatever it takes to get the job done.
I expect that we will see charter schools continue to expand across the Nation as word of their success spreads. Four years ago, the President signed into law the No Child Left Behind Act, which contains several programs that support charter school development, and provides school districts with the option of converting low-performing schools into charter schools. As we prepare to reauthorize No Child Left Behind, we'll take a close look at how these programs are performing to ensure that the Federal Government is doing everything it can to help create and sustain viable, high-achieving charter schools.
I commend the charter school students, parents, teachers, community leaders and others who, working together, are helping transform our system of public education. I encourage my colleagues to visit a charter school during National Charter Schools Week to witness firsthand the ways in which these innovative schools are making a difference in students' lives and in their communities.
