Supporting the goals and ideals of National Charter Schools Week, to be held May 3 through May 9, 2009.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 382) supporting the goals and ideals of National Charter Schools Week, to be held May 3 through May 9, 2009.

Mr. Speaker, I request 5 legislative days during which Members may revise and extend and insert extraneous material on House Resolution 382 into the Record.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support the designation of May 3-May 9, 2009, as ``National Charter Schools Week,'' and to recognize the growing charter school movement in our Nation.

The charter school movement is grounded in the concepts of community empowerment and parental involvement. The core idea behind charter schools is simple, yet powerful; seeking to serve the unique needs of all children, local communities, parents and educators come together to design, create, and manage schools that provide a high quality education through innovation, flexibility, autonomy, and a focus on results.

Sometimes people ask me, what is a charter school? A charter school is simply a governance model. It is site-based government, where the decisions of who runs the school and the curriculum are left up to the folks most directly involved with the outcome.

Charter schools date back to 1991, when Minnesota enacted the first charter school legislation. California followed suit in 1992. My home State of Colorado soon joined the growing movement in 1993.

Since their inception, charter schools have grown by leaps and bounds to address the various needs of our Nation's public school students. Diverse charter schools across the country offer innovative instruction. With site-based control and flexibility, charter schools can make timely decisions about how to structure the school day, which curriculum best suits the needs of their students, and what type of staff and staff development will enrich their school community. Additionally, charter schools form important community partnerships with parents and businesses.

This week, charter schools across the country will celebrate the 10th annual National Charter Schools Week. This year's theme, ``Promoting Innovation and Excellence,'' was inspired by President Obama. It celebrates and encourages charter schools to continue to share their successes as part of the effort to reform public education in our country.

As a former chairman of the Colorado State Board of Education and the founder and superintendent of a system of charter schools that empower new immigrants and English language learners to succeed and live the American Dream, I have seen firsthand how innovation in the education system can achieve remarkable results. I also cofounded a charter school serving youths who are homeless or in unstable living conditions, the Academy of Urban Learning.

I know how the power of educational opportunity can transform lives and serve the most at-risk youth. All of the entrepreneurial creativity around charter schools has been an important part of serving all Americans across our country.

Today, there are almost 4,700 charter schools operating in 40 States that have charter school legislation, as well as the District of Columbia. Their combined force serves over 1.4 million students, and 61 percent of charter schools report waiting lists. These waiting lists of nearly 365,000 students nationally are enough to fill over 1,100 new charter schools. To answer this growing need, between 300 and 400 new public charter schools open each year, and nearly 150,000 new students enroll in charter schools annually.

The growing charter school movement is providing opportunities for many historically underserved communities. Nationally, charter schools disproportionately serve minority and low-income students. In fact, 58 percent of charter school students are minorities and 52 percent qualify for free and reduced lunch. Many charter schools are able to achieve impressive academic results.

In the charter school that I ran, 85 percent of the students are English language learners. In Colorado, 78 percent

of our charters made Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP, last year, and 55 percent of charters were rated excellent or high.

In the Second Congressional District of Colorado that I represent, over 14,000 students attend one of our 26 charter schools, and almost 8 out of 10 made Adequate Yearly Progress.

Peak-to Peak Charter School in Lafayette was named by Newsweek the 40th best high school in the Nation, out of 27,000 public high schools--quite a distinction. It is the only school in Colorado to rank in the top 100. This follows Peak to Peak High School's recognition by U.S. News and World Report as a 2008 Gold Medal School, ranking 47th in the Nation, and one of only two Colorado schools to rank in the top 100.

Mr. Speaker, once again, I express my heartfelt support for National Charter Schools Week and encourage all social entrepreneurs and activists across the country to include charter schools in their efforts to improve the quality of education for young people and recognize the charter school's movement, a 17-year history of providing a quality public education option based on innovation, flexibility, and community partnerships.

I urge my colleagues to pass this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

We need to call upon all the innovation of the American people to help meet the learning needs of all children. Charter schools provide one important avenue to do that. And it is with great pride that I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting National Charter School Week.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I stand before you today in support of H. Res. 382, ``Supporting the goals and ideals of National Charter Schools Week, to be held May 3 through May 9, 2009''. I would like to begin by thanking my colleague Representative Bishop for introducing this resolution in the House, as quality education should be at the top of our priorities list. I urge my colleagues to support and acknowledge charter schools and their students, parents, teachers, and administrators across the United States for their ongoing contributions to education and improving and strengthening our public school system.

Charter schools deliver high-quality education, challenge our students to reach their potential throughout the United States, and provide thousands of families with diverse and innovative educational options for their children. Charter schools improve their students' achievement and can stimulate improvement in traditional public schools as well. These unique, public schools are authorized by a designated public entity that are responding to the needs of our communities, families, and students and promoting the principles of quality, choice, and innovation.

Charter schools take a revolutionary approach in educating our nation's students. Today, roughly 4,700 charter schools are now serving approximately 1,400,000 children in 40 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico this year. Charter schools continually demonstrate their ongoing success to parents, policymakers, and their communities. Some charter schools even routinely measure parental satisfaction levels while all give parents new freedom to choose their public school.

Charter schools nationwide serve a higher percentage of low-income and minority students than the traditional public system and deliver higher quality education. Chartering is a radical educational innovation that is moving states beyond reforming existing schools to creating something entirely new. Chartering is at the center of a growing movement to challenge traditional notions of what public education means.

Charter schools have demonstrated their commitment to high academic standards, small class sizes, innovative approaches and educational philosophies. Many parents choose charter schools for their small size and associated safety as charter schools serve an average of 250 students.

I am pleased that over the last 15 years, Congress has provided substantial support to the charter school movement through startup financing assistance and grants for planning, implementation, and dissemination. In addition, these schools have enjoyed broad bipartisan support from the Administration, Congress, State Governors and legislatures, educators, and parents across the United States.

The intention of most charter school legislation is to: increase opportunities for learning and access to quality education for all students, create choice for parents and students within the public school system, provide a system of accountability for results in public education, encourage innovative teaching practices, create new professional opportunities for teachers, encourage community and parent involvement in public education, and leverage improved public education broadly. I believe Charter Schools and the Nations Public Schools can work side by side to educate the Nations Children!

Competition from charter schools has been shown to increase composite test scores in traditional district schools. Furthermore, twice as many registered voters favor charter schools as oppose I, them. The more people learn about charter schools, the more they like

them. Congress must lend its support to these schools and their goals, especially since on average, the funding gap between charter schools and traditional schools is 22 percent, or $1,800 per pupil. The average charter school ends up with a total funding shortfall of nearly half a million dollars. Yet, twelve studies find that overall gains in charter schools are larger than other public schools; four find charter schools' gains higher in certain significant categories of schools and six find comparable gains to traditional schools. I ask my colleagues for their continued support of Charter schools and urge them to support this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 382, congratulating charter schools and their students, parents, teachers, and administrators across the United States for their ongoing contributions to education.

This week has been designated as the 10th Annual Charter Schools Week. And it is entirely appropriate that we take a few minutes to recognize the contributions charter schools make every day in the lives of millions of children.

Charter schools are innovative public schools with a simple interest in providing a quality education to children in their community. They explore new educational approaches, such as longer school days or an extended school year, and are free from most rules and regulations governing conventional public schools.

Every day, however, charter schools face the unarguable facts of free market pressures. Unlike traditional public schools, charter schools must demonstrate the success of their students' academic achievements to parents, policymakers, and their communities or face closure. From the time the first charter school opened its door, they have risen to the challenge. For example, charter schools made an important contribution to rebuilding and strengthening Louisiana after Hurricanes Rita and Katrina, particularly in New Orleans.

More often than not, charter schools meet the student achievement and accountability requirements under No Child Left Behind and in the same manner as traditional public schools, but often set higher individual goals to ensure that they are of high quality and truly accountable to the public. Yet, despite these innovative approaches and promising reports of parental satisfaction, charter schools across the country have struggled through a myriad of obstacles to create such successful schools.

One such obstacle is State caps that limit growth. Twenty-six States and the District of Columbia have some type of limit or cap on charter school growth. Most caps restrict the number of charter schools allowed, while others restrict the number of students that a single school can serve. Caps on charter schools are often the consequence of political tradeoffs and not the result of agreement on sound education policy.

I am pleased that Congress has continued to support the public charter school programs authorized under No Child Left Behind. These programs provide support at key points in the development of charter schools, helping cover the extraordinary costs of launching successful charters, disseminating their successful innovations to other public schools, and providing financial incentives to State governments and private lenders that help enable schools to build and renovate facilities.

These programs have been a tremendous success, helping to create public charter schools all across the country that work to improve academic achievement for low-income students. It is my hope that the charter community will continue to build on its 16-year history of providing a high-quality option in public education that is based on innovation, freedom from red tape, and partnership between parents and educators, an option that is giving new hope to disadvantaged and minority families across the country.

I urge my colleagues to support this resolution, and I would like to thank Congressman Bishop, the sponsor of the legislation who is not able to be here today, for his sponsorship.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 382, which supports the goals and ideals of National Charter School Week.

I know very well the great importance of charter schools in public education today as I helped establish one of America's first charter schools, the New Heights Charter School in Stillwater, Minnesota in 1993. This school is not only continuing its success today but has driven the establishment of other charter schools. And, today, children are educated at almost 3000 charter schools across the United States.

With so many new charter schools opening since these past two decades, it is clear that these schools fulfill a real need for parents, students, and teachers alike. These schools are held accountable for the progress of their students and they continue to thrive because their students perform so well.

Charter schools hold great importance in our educational system because they give parents options. They allow parents to choose from a variety of institutions to find the environment that will best help them succeed. The traditional public school is not always the right fit for every child. Because of charter schools, not only children from families with means have choices. Charter schools give underprivileged families choices that they might not otherwise have.

Madam Speaker, charter schools have set students and teachers on a path to achieve their goals and are an integral part in our constant efforts to improve education in the United States.