[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8886 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8886

  To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and the 
  Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to ensure no funds made 
   available under such Acts may be awarded to a charter school that 
    enters into a contract with a for-profit entity for operating, 
  overseeing, or managing the charter school, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 28, 2024

  Ms. DeLauro (for herself and Ms. Bonamici) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 
                               Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and the 
  Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to ensure no funds made 
   available under such Acts may be awarded to a charter school that 
    enters into a contract with a for-profit entity for operating, 
  overseeing, or managing the charter school, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Championing Honest And Responsible 
Transparency in Education Reform Act'' or the ``CHARTER Act''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSE AND FINDINGS.

    (a) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to ensure that each 
charter school that receives funding under the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) (in this section 
referred to as the ``ESEA'') or the Individuals with Disabilities 
Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.) (in this section referred to as 
the ``IDEA'')--
            (1) complies with the intent of the requirements for 
        funding under such Act; and
            (2) best serves the educational needs of students by 
        prohibiting such charter school and its charter management 
        organization from entering into a contract with a for-profit 
        entity under which the for-profit entity--
                    (A) operates, oversees, or manages the charter 
                school in order to exert influence in school 
                management; and
                    (B) receives a portion of school revenue in order 
                to extract profit for itself or its related entities.
    (b) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) An ``elementary school'' is defined as ``a nonprofit 
        institutional day or residential school, including a public 
        elementary charter school, that provides elementary education, 
        as determined under State law'' under section 8101 of the ESEA 
        (20 U.S.C. 7801) and section 602 of the IDEA (20 U.S.C. 1401).
            (2) A ``secondary school'' is defined as ``a nonprofit 
        institutional day or residential school, including a public 
        secondary charter school, that provides secondary education, as 
        determined under State law, except that the term does not 
        include any education beyond grade 12'' under section 8101 of 
        the ESEA (20 U.S.C. 7801) and section 602 of the IDEA (20 
        U.S.C. 1401).
            (3) The term ``nonprofit'' as applied to a school, agency, 
        organization, or institution means ``a school, agency, 
        organization, or institution owned and operated by 1 or more 
        nonprofit corporations or associations no part of the net 
        earnings of which inures, or may lawfully inure, to the benefit 
        of any private shareholder or individual'' under section 602 of 
        the IDEA (20 U.S.C. 1401).
            (4) In 2003, the Department of Education Office of 
        Inspector General, upon auditing the Arizona Department of 
        Education, concluded that the State educational agency in 
        Arizona had improperly distributed funds under the ESEA and the 
        IDEA to for-profit charter schools.
            (5) In 2006, the United States Court of Appeals Ninth 
        Circuit Court in Arizona State Bd. v. U.S. Dept. of Educ., 464 
        F.3d 1003 (9th Cir. 2006) found that the terms ``elementary 
        school'' and ``secondary school'' in the ESEA and the IDEA were 
        limited to nonprofit entities, holding that for-profit charter 
        schools were ineligible for Federal funds under the ESEA and 
        the IDEA.
            (6) In response to the decision in Arizona State Bd. v. 
        U.S. Dept. of Educ., the appellant for-profit charter schools 
        reorganized as for-profit operators of nonprofit organizations, 
        enabling the appellants to continue to receive Federal funds 
        under the ESEA and the IDEA.
            (7) Every student in a publicly funded school in the United 
        States, including charter school students, is entitled to 
        access education services without having publicly funded 
        resources depleted due to profit extraction.
            (8) Every taxpayer in the United States should be confident 
        that public funds are responsibly stewarded and not funding the 
        enrichment of for-profit charter operators at the expense of 
        students and taxpayers.

SEC. 3. ESEA DEFINITION OF CHARTER SCHOOL.

    (a) Prohibition of Contracting With For-Profit Entity for Essential 
Services.--Section 4310(2) of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7221i(2)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (L), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in subparagraph (M)--
                    (A) by moving the margins of such paragraph 2 ems 
                to the left; and
                    (B) by striking the period and inserting a 
                semicolon; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(N) does not enter into a contract with a for-
                profit entity, or have a charter management 
                organization or other nonprofit entity enter into such 
                a contract on behalf of such school, under which the 
                for-profit entity operates, oversees, manages, or 
                otherwise carries out the administration of such 
                school, which may include curriculum development, 
                budget management, and faculty management (such as 
                hiring, terminating, or supervising school-level 
                staff); and
                    ``(O) may enter into a contract with a for-profit 
                or nonprofit entity for the provision of--
                            ``(i) food, payroll, facilities 
                        maintenance, or transportation services;
                            ``(ii) classroom supplies (such as 
                        textbooks); or
                            ``(iii) ancillary services or supplies.''.
    (b) General Definitions.--Section 8101 of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801) is amended by adding 
at the end the following:
            ``(53) Charter school.--The term `charter school' has the 
        meaning given the term in section 4310.''.

SEC. 4. IDEA DEFINITION OF CHARTER SCHOOL.

    Section 602 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 
U.S.C. 1401) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(37) Charter school.--The term `charter school' has the 
        meaning given the term in section 4310 of the Elementary and 
        Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7221i).''.

SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICABILITY.

    The amendments made by this Act--
            (1) shall take effect on the date that is 3 years after the 
        date of the enactment of this Act; and
            (2) shall only apply with respect to any contract entered 
        into, renewed, or extended on or after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>