III 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. RES. 195 Congratulating the students, parents, teachers, and leaders of charter schools across the United States for making ongoing contributions to education, and supporting the ideals and goals of the 24th annual National Charter Schools Week, to be held May 7 through May 13, 2023. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 4, 2023 Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina (for himself, Mr. BENNET, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. LANKFORD, Mr. CARPER, Mr. RISCH, Mr. CORNYN, Mrs. BRITT, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. HAGERTY, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. CRAPO, Mrs. BLACK- BURN, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. SCOTT of Florida, Mr. CRUZ, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. TUBERVILLE, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. WICKER, Mr. BRAUN, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. HICKENLOOPER, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. MCCONNELL, and Mr. BOOZMAN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions MAY 11, 2023 Committee discharged; considered and agreed to RESOLUTION Congratulating the students, parents, teachers, and leaders of charter schools across the United States for making ongoing contributions to education, and supporting the ideals and goals of the 24th annual National Charter Schools Week, to be held May 7 through May 13, 2023. Whereas charter schools are public schools that do not charge tuition and enroll any student who wants to attend, often through a random lottery when the demand for enroll- VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:28 May 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR195.ATS SR195 DMWilson on DSKJM0X7X2PROD with BILLS 2 SRES 195 ATS ment is outmatched by the supply of available charter school seats; Whereas high-performing public charter schools deliver a high-quality public education and challenge all students to reach their potential for academic success; Whereas high-quality public charter schools promote innova- tion and excellence in public education; Whereas public charter schools throughout the United States can provide millions of families with diverse and innova- tive educational options for the children of those families; Whereas high-performing public charter schools and charter management organizations are increasing student achievement and attendance rates at institutions of high- er education; Whereas public charter schools are authorized by a des- ignated entity and— (1) respond to the needs of communities, families, and students in the United States; and (2) promote the principles of quality, accountability, choice, high-performance, and innovation; Whereas, in exchange for flexibility and autonomy, public charter schools are held accountable by the authorizers of the charter schools for improving student achievement and for sound and transparent financial and operational management; Whereas public charter schools are required to meet the stu- dent achievement accountability requirements under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) in the same manner as traditional public schools; VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:43 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR195.ATS SR195 DMWilson on DSKJM0X7X2PROD with BILLS 3 SRES 195 ATS Whereas public charter schools often set high expectations for students to ensure that the charter schools are of high quality and truly accountable to the public; Whereas 44 States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico have public charter schools; Whereas, as of the 2020–2021 school year, more than 7,800 public charter schools served approximately 3,700,000 children; Whereas enrollment in public charter schools grew from 400,000 students in 2001 to 3,700,000 students in 2020, a more than eightfold increase in 20 years; Whereas in the United States— (1) in 261 school districts, more than 10 percent of public school students are enrolled in public charter schools; and (2) in at least 22 school districts, at least 30 percent of public school students are enrolled in public charter schools; Whereas high-quality public charter schools improve the achievement of students enrolled in the charter schools and collaborate with traditional public schools to improve public education for all students; Whereas public charter schools— (1) give parents the freedom to choose public schools; (2) routinely measure parental satisfaction levels; and (3) must prove the ongoing success of the charter schools to parents, policymakers, and the communities served by the charter schools or risk closure; VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:43 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR195.ATS SR195 DMWilson on DSKJM0X7X2PROD with BILLS 4 SRES 195 ATS Whereas a 2015 report from the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University found sig- nificant improvements for students at urban charter schools, and, when compared to peers in traditional pub- lic schools, each year those students completed the equiv- alent of 28 more days of learning in reading and 40 more days of learning in math; Whereas parental demand for charter schools is high, and there was nearly 5 percent growth in charter school en- rollment between the 2017–2018 and 2018–2019 school years; and Whereas the 24th annual National Charter Schools Week is scheduled to be celebrated the week of May 7 through May 13, 2023: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate— 1 (1) congratulates the students, families, teach- 2 ers, leaders, and staff of public charter schools 3 across the United States for— 4 (A) making ongoing contributions to public 5 education; 6 (B) making important strides in closing 7 the academic achievement gap in schools in the 8 United States, particularly in schools with some 9 of the most disadvantaged students in both 10 rural and urban communities; and 11 (C) strengthening the public school system 12 throughout the United States; 13 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:43 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR195.ATS SR195 DMWilson on DSKJM0X7X2PROD with BILLS 5 SRES 195 ATS (2) supports the ideals and goals of the 24th 1 annual National Charter Schools Week, a week-long 2 celebration to be held May 7 through May 13, 2023, 3 in communities throughout the United States; and 4 (3) encourages the people of the United States 5 to hold appropriate programs, ceremonies, and ac- 6 tivities during National Charter Schools Week to 7 demonstrate support for high-quality public charter 8 schools. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:43 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\SR195.ATS SR195 DMWilson on DSKJM0X7X2PROD with BILLS