A resolution congratulating the students, parents, teachers, and administrators at charter schools across the United States for their ongoing contributions to education and supporting the ideas and goals of the 10th annual National Charter Schools Week, May 3 through May 9, 2009.

Whereas charter schools deliver high-quality education and challenge all students to reach their potential;

Whereas charter schools provide thousands of families with diverse and innovative educational options for their children;

Whereas charter schools are public schools authorized by a designated public entity that respond to the needs of communities, families, and students in the United States and promote the principles of quality, choice, and innovation;

Whereas, in exchange for the flexibility and autonomy given to charter schools, they are held accountable by their sponsors for improving student achievement and for their financial and other operations;

Whereas 40 States and the District of Columbia have passed laws authorizing charter schools;

Whereas approximately 4,700 charter schools are now operating in 40 States and the District of Columbia, serving more than 1,400,000 students;

Whereas, during the last 14 years, Congress has provided more than $2,478,288,000 in financial assistance to the charter school movement through facilities financing assistance and grants for planning, startup, implementation, and dissemination;

Whereas many charter schools improve the achievements of students and stimulate improvement in traditional public schools;

Whereas charter schools must meet the student achievement accountability requirements under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) in the same manner as traditional public schools and often set higher and additional individual goals to ensure that charter schools are of high quality and truly accountable to the public;

Whereas charter schools give parents new freedom to choose public schools, routinely measure parental satisfaction levels, and must prove their ongoing success to parents, policymakers, and their communities;

Whereas more than 50 percent of charter schools report having a waiting list, and the total number of students on all such waiting lists is enough to fill more than 1,100 average-sized charter schools;

Whereas the President has called for increased Federal support for replicating and expanding high-performing charter schools to meet the dramatic demand created by the more than 365,000 children on charter school waiting lists; and

Whereas the 10th annual National Charter Schools Week is May 3 through May 9, 2009: Now, therefore, be it