Success and Opportunity Through Quality Charter Schools Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of H.R. 10, the Success and Opportunity Through Quality Charter Schools Act, demonstrating that Congress can actually work together to get something done.

I want to thank Chairman Kline and my good friend from California, Ranking Member George Miller, for bringing this forward. I am still waiting for you guys to bring the ESEA to the floor, but I am really thrilled that we are making some critical improvements to the public charter school system.

Charter schools were never meant to replace our traditional public school system, but I have to tell you that they have grown over the last 20 years and I see several of them in my area, just down the street really, making a difference in my community--the Orange County High School of the Arts, for example, and an elementary school called El Sol--all doing great work just under a mile away from me.

It is really great for us to take a look at the Federal law and say: How can we make this even better? Because even though we have great schools, like the ones I just mentioned, there are also some charter schools that have failed or some charter schools that are actually failing our kids, they are not really getting the work done that we thought they would do or that the people who envisioned them thought would be done.

While charter schools work towards encouraging innovation in our public schools, we really need to take a look and see what these schools are doing. H.R. 10 is the first step in highlighting the need for charter schools that improve student outcomes while expanding those schools that are currently utilizing our best practices.

I am also pleased to see that the legislation requires greater charter authorizer accountability and even more pleased that we are finally addressing the under-enrollment of some of our most vulnerable students through the weighted lotteries provision. This is incredibly important in the area where I live, as I have a very urban area.

We hold our traditional public schools accountable for the education of our future leaders, and we expect charter schools to involve the community in their efforts to improve the charter school system. That is why I am happy to have worked with both the majority and the minority on an amendment that I will have tomorrow which will hold public charter schools accountable in fostering and promoting community involvement. We all know that when people are involved, when they are involved in their school, when parents are involved, we see a mass difference in the students who come out of those schools.

Charter schools must be engaged with a local community to understand the students they teach, and my amendment will strengthen that role.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California. While it is not the final solution, H.R. 10 positively contributes to the promise of a quality education for every child in every neighborhood.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source