III 112th CONGRESS 1st Session S. RES. 158 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES May 2, 2011 Ms. Landrieu (for herself, Mr. Alexander, Mr. Burr, Mr. Carper, Mr. Durbin, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Kirk, Mr. Lieberman, and Mr. Vitter) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions May 5, 2011 Committee discharged; considered and agreed to with an amended preamble RESOLUTION Congratulating the students, parents, teachers, and administrators of charter schools across the United States for ongoing contributions to education, and supporting the ideals and goals of the 12th annual National Charter Schools Week.

Whereas charter schools deliver high-quality public education and challenge all students to reach their potential; Whereas charter schools promote innovation and excellence in public education; 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— (1)respond to the needs of communities, families, and students in the United States; and (2)promote the principles of quality, accountability, choice, and innovation; Whereas in exchange for flexibility and autonomy, charter schools are held accountable by their sponsors for improving student achievement and for the financial and other operations of the charter schools; Whereas 40 States, the District of Columbia, and Guam have passed laws authorizing charter schools; Whereas in 2011, close to 5,000 charter schools are serving more than 1,600,000 children; Whereas in the past 17 fiscal years, Congress has provided a total of more than $2,600,000,000 in financial assistance to the charter school movement through grants for planning, program design, initial implementation, replication, expansion, dissemination, evaluation, and facilities; Whereas numerous charter schools improve the achievements of students and stimulate improvement in traditional public schools; Whereas charter schools are required to 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; Whereas charter schools often set higher and additional individual goals than the requirements of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) to ensure that charter schools are of high quality and truly accountable to the public; Whereas charter schools— (1)give parents the freedom to choose public schools; (2)routinely measure parental satisfaction levels; and (3)must prove their ongoing success to parents, policymakers, and the communities served by the charter schools; 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; and Whereas the 12th annual National Charter Schools Week is scheduled to be held May 1, through May 7, 2011: Now, therefore, be it

That the Senate— (1)congratulates the students, parents, teachers, and administrators of charter schools across the United States for— (A)ongoing contributions to education; (B)the impressive strides made in closing the persistent academic achievement gap in the United States; and (C)improving and strengthening the public school system in the United States; (2)supports the ideals and goals of the 12th annual National Charter Schools Week, a week-long celebration to be held May 1 through May 7, 2011, in communities throughout the United States; and (3)encourages the people of the United States to hold appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities during National Charter Schools Week to demonstrate support for charter schools.