[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 133 (Friday, September 9, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1573]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         EMPOWERING PARENTS THROUGH QUALITY CHARTER SCHOOLS ACT

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                               speech of

                           HON. MAXINE WATERS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 8, 2011

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2218) to 
     amend the charter school program under the Elementary and 
     Secondary Education Act of 1965.

  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Chair, I rise today in strong opposition to H.R. 
2218, the Empowering Parents through Quality Charter Schools Act. 
Although this bill includes some modest improvements to charter school 
regulation over current laws, it still falls short of ensuring that 
charter schools are held to high standards for educational quality, 
accountability and accessibility for all students.
  Charter school education currently lies at the center of a growing 
movement to challenge traditional notions of what public education 
means in America. Although it is important for students to have choice 
within the educational model, we cannot solely rely on charter schools 
and private for--profit companies to solve all of our educational 
challenges within our public school system. There is considerable 
research which documents mixed reviews of success among charter 
schools. In a national study conducted by Stanford University economist 
Margaret Raymond, she found that only 17 percent of charter schools 
were superior to the local public schools, 37 percent of charter 
schools received worse results than comparable neighborhood schools and 
46 percent did about the same.
  With more than 1.5 million students enrolled in charter schools that 
vary widely in quality, it is critical that we, as a nation, have 
protections in place that will ensure these students achieve 
educational success and this bill falls short of ensuring just that. We 
must enhance the focus on charter schools' and authorizers' 
accountability. We must enhance the ever so important role of parents 
and the community's input in the authorizing process. We must to ensure 
that adequate educational resources play a critical role in improving 
achievement for all students. With this bill's lack of transparency and 
accountability requirements, guarantee to adequate resources and 
parental and community involvement we will only further exacerbate 
current resource and opportunity gaps in the American educational 
system.
  I appreciate my colleague Rep. George Miller's commitment to equality 
education in American and his hard work on this bill but I think is 
important for us to take a closer look at this bill's provisions just 
to ensure that every student receives a quality education that is 
transparent, holds its educators accountable and is most importantly 
equal.

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