Success and Opportunity Through Quality Charter Schools Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield myself 5 minutes.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of H.R. 10.

I want to thank the chairman of the committee for all of his cooperation so we could arrive at this legislation to bring to the floor. I want to thank the staff on both sides of the aisle for all of the time that they spent negotiating this legislation. I am delighted that we are here tonight to consider it.

The Success and Opportunity Through Quality Charter Schools Act, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation. I guess we will be voting tomorrow on it, to vote in support of the legislation.

My support of H.R. 10 is grounded in my commitment to our Nation's public schools and my firm belief that every child in every neighborhood deserves access to a high-quality public education.

This bipartisan legislation would take us one step closer to making the promise of quality public schools for every child a reality.

In many ways, the innovations coming out of the charter school sector are helping to disprove some of the false assumptions about kids who happen to be from the wrong ZIP Code. Charter schools continue to prove that all children, from any background, can succeed. H.R. 10 seeks to build on that success. It will expand opportunities for all children to benefit from charter school innovations.

Along with Chairman Kline, I authored similar legislation last Congress. That legislation served as the basis for this bill which we are considering today and passed out of this Chamber with more than 360 votes.

I am pleased once again to collaborate with Chairman Kline on this reauthorization of the Charter Schools Program. By working together, we have been able to produce a truly bipartisan bill that will bring much-needed improvements to the only Federal program that supports the startup of public charter schools.

This existing Federal program provides startup funding for public charter schools from States where the public charter schools are permitted that win a competitive grant.

While the Charter Schools Program is in a small, competitive funding stream that reaches a limited number of schools, the program can and should be used as a lever to ensure the quality within the charter school sector, drive collaboration between charter and noncharter public schools, improve State oversight of charter schools to make sure that every public school is equitably serving the most disadvantaged students.

H.R. 10 would refocus the Charter Schools Program to achieve these goals while recognizing and supporting the success of public charter schools. Much of that success comes from the autonomy and flexibility that charter schools have in implementing innovative curricula and instruction. The research is clear: Access to great schools, fantastic instruction, and a safe learning environment matters.

Thousands of public schools across the country, both charter and noncharter, are great schools supported by millions of wonderful educators. Unfortunately, some of our Nation's public schools, both charter and noncharter, fall short.

I have been working on this issue for a long time. For me, it isn't about the quantity of charter schools; it is about the quality of all public schools. Over the years, I have requested numerous GAO reports that examine activities of public charter schools to look at the quality of the services for students who are traditionally underserved, including those with disabilities and English language learners. The results have pointed to the flaws in the charter implementation that shortchanged disadvantaged students.

Our Federal investment in charters must help support and drive improvements in the charter sector. For example, in Denver, when the data showed a discrepancy in the charter school services for students with complex disabilities as compared to noncharters, the district leaders said, ``We can do better.'' Instead of pointing fingers and placing blame, the district leaders and charter leaders collaborated on bringing needed programs and support to students with complex disabilities to all Denver public schools, including the charter schools.

Federal dollars that support charter schools must incentivize this type of collaboration on behalf of our most vulnerable students. The improvements in the Charter Schools Program that are embodied in H.R. 10

would do just that. That is why groups such as National Council of Learning Disabilities and the Consortium of Citizens with Disabilities enthusiastically support this bill. No public school, charter or otherwise, gets a pass when it comes to serving all kids.

H.R. 10 would also ensure that our Federal investment in public charter schools supports only high-quality charters that are serving all students and have demonstrated that they are accountable to parents and communities.

H.R. 10 includes unprecedented quality controls and mechanisms to improve charter authorizing activity and oversight. It challenges States to support and transfer the best practices among all public schools in order to ensure that the benefits of charter schools are reaching all students, not just a few.

This isn't a debate about charter schools. Charter schools are here and they aren't going anywhere. This is about increasing the quality, the equity, and the transparency in the charter sector. The sector is vibrant, and it is now serving more than 2 million students in 42 States and the District of Columbia.

A "yes'' vote on H.R. 10 is a vote for much-needed program improvements that will help ensure that the Federal dollars supporting public charter schools only flow to quality schools and that those schools live up to the promise of the equitable education of all students.

I urge you to join me, Mr. Chairman, in supporting this bill.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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