[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 62 (Tuesday, April 29, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S5496]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page S5496]]
SENATE RESOLUTION 123--DESIGNATING APRIL 28, 2003, THROUGH MAY 2, 2003, 
      AS ``NATIONAL CHARTER SCHOOLS WEEK,'' AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

  Mr. GREGG (for himself, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Frist, Mr. Alexander, Mr. 
Carper, and Mr. Bayh) submitted the following resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary:

                              S. Res. 123

       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 39 States, the District of Columbia, and the 
     Commonwealth of Puerto Rico have passed laws authorizing 
     charter schools;
       Whereas 39 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 36 States, the District of Columbia, and the 
     Commonwealth of Puerto Rico are serving nearly 700,000 
     students in almost 2,700 charter schools during the 2002-2003 
     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 more than two-thirds of charter schools report 
     having a waiting list, the average size of such a waiting 
     list is more than 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;
       Whereas charter schools in many States serve significant 
     numbers of students from families with low incomes, 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 28, 2003, through May 2, 2003, as 
     ``National Charter Schools Week'';
       (2) honors the 11th anniversary of the opening of the 
     Nation's first charter school;
       (3) acknowledges and commends the growing 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;
       (4) 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
       (5) 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.

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