[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 48 (Thursday, April 25, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3449-S3450]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 254--DESIGNATING APRIL 29, 2002, THROUGH MAY 3, 2002, 
      AS ``NATIONAL CHARTER SCHOOLS WEEK,'' AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

  Mr. LIEBERMAN (for himself, Mr. Gregg, Mr. Carper, Mr. Hutchinson, 
and Mr. Bayh) submitted the following resolution; which was considered 
and agreed to:

                              S. Res. 254

       Whereas charter schools are public schools authorized by a 
     designated public body and operating on the principles of 
     accountability, parental involvement, choice, and autonomy;
       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 37 States, the District of Columbia, and the 
     Commonwealth of Puerto Rico have passed laws authorizing 
     charter schools;
       Whereas 37 States, the District of Columbia, and the 
     Commonwealth of Puerto Rico will have received substantial 
     assistance from the Federal Government by the end of the 
     current fiscal year for planning, startup, and implementation 
     of charter schools since their authorization in 1994 under 
     the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
     6301 et seq.);
       Whereas 34 States, the District of Columbia, and the 
     Commonwealth of Puerto Rico are serving more than 500,000 
     students in more than 2,431 charter schools during the 2001-
     2002 school year;
       Whereas charter schools can be vehicles for improving 
     student academic achievement for the students who attend 
     them, for stimulating change and improvement in all public 
     schools, and for benefiting all public school students;
       Whereas charter schools must meet the same Federal student 
     academic achievement accountability requirements as all 
     public schools, and often set higher and additional goals, to 
     ensure that they are of high quality and truly accountable to 
     the public;
       Whereas charter schools assess and evaluate students 
     annually and often more frequently, and charter school 
     student academic achievement is directly linked to charter 
     school existence;
       Whereas charter schools give parents new freedom to choose 
     their public school, charter schools routinely measure 
     parental approval, and charter schools must prove their 
     ongoing and increasing success to parents, policymakers, and 
     their communities;
       Whereas two-thirds of charter schools report having a 
     waiting list, the average size of such a waiting list is 
     nearly one-half of the school's enrollment, and the total 
     number of students on all such waiting lists is enough to 
     fill another 1,000 average-sized charter schools;
       Whereas students in charter schools nationwide have similar 
     demographic characteristics as students in all public 
     schools;

[[Page S3450]]

       Whereas charter schools in many States serve significant 
     numbers of students from families with lower income, minority 
     students, and students with disabilities, and in a majority 
     of charter schools almost half of the students are considered 
     at risk or are former dropouts;
       Whereas charter schools have enjoyed broad bipartisan 
     support from the Administration, Congress, State Governors 
     and legislatures, educators, and parents across the Nation; 
     and
       Whereas charter schools are laboratories of reform and 
     serve as models of how to educate children as effectively as 
     possible: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) designates April 29, 2002, through May 3, 2002, as 
     ``National Charter Schools Week'';
       (1) honors the 10th anniversary of the opening of the 
     Nation's first charter school;
       (2) acknowledges and commends the charter school movement 
     and charter schools, teachers, parents, and students across 
     the Nation for their ongoing contributions to education and 
     improving and strengthening the Nation's public school 
     system;
       (3) supports the goals of National Charter Schools Week, an 
     event sponsored by charter schools and charter school 
     organizations across the Nation and established to recognize 
     the significant impacts, achievements, and innovations of the 
     Nation's charter schools; and
       (4) requests that the President issue a proclamation 
     calling on the people of the United States to conduct 
     appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities to 
     demonstrate support for charter schools in communities 
     throughout the Nation.

                          ____________________