[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 18 (Monday, May 8, 2000)]
[Pages 943-944]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7297--National Charter Schools Week, 2000

 April 28, 2000

 By the President of the United States

 of America

 A Proclamation

    Providing our children the high-quality education they need to 
succeed is one of the greatest challenges we face as a Nation, and 
helping communities establish public charter schools is one of the best 
ways we can meet that challenge.
    Charter schools--public schools that are started by parents, 
educators, and communities working in partnership--are open to students 
of every background and ability. They also afford greater autonomy and 
flexibility in staffing decisions, curriculum design, and other areas 
than traditional public schools do. In return for this flexibility, 
charter schools must set and meet the highest standards, and they can 
remain open only as long as they do so.
    These schools are helping us to meet many of our Nation's most 
important education goals. They are driving change in public schools 
across America by showing the benefits of greater parent participation, 
longer school years, higher academic standards, and character education. 
Charter schools offer reform, innovation, and increased choice in public 
education, and, by doing so, they spur improvement throughout our public 
school system.
    I am proud that my Administration has taken a leadership role in 
promoting and funding public charter schools. When I took office almost 
8 years ago, there was only one charter school in our Nation. By 
September of last year, that number had grown to more than 1,600 in 30 
States and the District of Columbia, with more than 250,000 students 
enrolled and many more on waiting lists.

[[Page 944]]

Since 1994, the Federal Government has invested almost $400 million in 
public charter schools. Last August, I announced the release of almost 
$100 million in Department of Education grants to develop, open, or 
expand charter schools across the country. And my proposed budget for 
fiscal year 2001 includes $175 million for the Department of Education's 
Public Charter Schools Program. These grants and funds will help cover 
the costs of opening new schools and help existing charter schools hire 
more well-trained teachers, buy more books, computers, and educational 
software, and ensure that classrooms are safe and accessible for all 
students. Finally, these funds will aid charter schools as they develop 
accountability systems to measure whether they are meeting or exceeding 
State standards.
    During National Charter Schools Week, I commend the many dedicated 
parents, educators, students, and other concerned citizens who, working 
together, have started charter schools in their communities to meet the 
growing demand for excellence, creativity, and choice in education. 
Because of their vision and leadership, charter schools across our 
Nation are helping to raise standards, expectations, and accountability 
in all of America's public schools. By investing in charter schools, we 
are investing in our Nation's future.
    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton,  President of the United 
States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the 
Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 1 
through May 5, 2000, as National Charter Schools Week. I encourage the 
American people to mark this observance with appropriate programs and 
activities that raise awareness of the many contributions that public 
charter schools make to the education of our children and the success of 
our Nation.
    In Witness Whereof,  I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-eighth 
day of April, in the year of our Lord two thousand, and of the 
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-
fourth.
                                            William J. Clinton

 [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., May 2, 2000]

 Note:  This proclamation was published in the  Federal Register  on May 
3. This item was not received in time for publication in the appropriate 
issue.