[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 84 (Wednesday, May 3, 2017)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 20805-20806]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-09078]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 82 , No. 84 / Wednesday, May 3, 2017 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 20805]]


                Proclamation 9600 of April 28, 2017

                
National Charter Schools Week, 2017

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                During National Charter Schools Week, we recommit 
                ourselves to empowering students and giving parents 
                their rightful freedom over their children's education. 
                We recognize the successful public charter schools 
                across the country and the families, teachers, 
                administrators, and communities who continue to invest 
                in our Nation's most precious resource--our children.

                More than 25 years ago, an idea took root: educators 
                free of restrictive processes and policies, and 
                empowered to experiment with new teaching methods, 
                would generate better outcomes for students. Charter 
                schools are built around this idea. Like traditional 
                public schools, they are tuition-free, but they operate 
                independently from traditional school boards and, in 
                exchange, are held accountable by local authorizers to 
                standards that are often more demanding.

                Education is the foundation for success, and 
                educational opportunity should not be limited or 
                defined by status, income, or residence. All children 
                deserve access to a quality education. When our 
                children receive a rigorous education and are held to 
                high standards, they can achieve their goals, rise out 
                of poverty, and actively engage in our democracy.

                For too long, however, students across this country 
                have been trapped in failing or underperforming schools 
                simply because of their zip code. The Washington one-
                size-fits-all approach has not worked for far too many 
                of our children. Fortunately, we have seen how allowing 
                families the freedom to choose other schooling 
                options--including charter schools--delivers life-
                changing results.

                Today, 44 States and the District of Columbia have laws 
                that allow for charter schools, which enroll more than 
                3 million students. The demand for charter schools only 
                continues to grow: a recent study showed that at least 
                70 percent of parents favor opening a charter school in 
                their neighborhood. This is because charter schools 
                work. According to Stanford University's Center for 
                Research on Education Outcomes study, students in urban 
                charter schools, on average, achieve significantly 
                greater outcomes in both reading and math. This is why 
                I have called upon the Congress to increase funding for 
                charter schools as well as school choice programs for 
                disadvantaged youth, which would include millions of 
                African American and Latino children. Under the 
                leadership of Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, we 
                will expand charter school options for students 
                throughout the United States.

                As Americans, we have an abiding conviction that our 
                next generation's future should be even brighter than 
                ours. Education provides the staircase out of poverty, 
                toward a fulfilling life of work and service, and a 
                true shot at the American Dream. We want every 
                student--from New Orleans to Kansas City, from Houston 
                to Detroit, and every city and town in between--to rise 
                to success. Charter schools have tremendous potential 
                to offer students around the country the priceless gift 
                of possibility. As a Nation, we should support the 
                continued success of charter schools and hold our 
                students up to the high standards they are all capable 
                of achieving.

[[Page 20806]]

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the 
                United States, do hereby proclaim April 30 through May 
                6, 2017, as National Charter Schools Week. I commend 
                our Nation's successful public charter schools, 
                teachers, and administrators, and I call on States and 
                communities to empower parents and families by 
                supporting high-quality charter schools as an important 
                school choice option.

                    IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand 
                this twenty-eighth day of April, in the year of our 
                Lord two thousand seventeen, and of the Independence of 
                the United States of America the two hundred and forty-
                first.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2017-09078
Filed 5-2-17; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3295-F7-P