A bipartisan group of congressmen introduced legislation to provide support for charter schools by increasing flexibility and accountability on Tuesday.
Reps. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), Tom Petri (R-Wis.), Rubén Hinojosa (D-Texas), Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), Susan Davis (D-Calif.), Erik Paulsen (R-Minn.), John Delaney (D-Md.) and Aaron Schock (R-Ill.) are cosponsors of the legislation called the All Students Achieving through Reform Act. The bill is also known as the ALL-STAR Act.
The proposed bill would update and improve Title V of the Department of Education’s Charter Schools Program, the federal government’s program to support financing and growth of public charter schools across the country. The bill’s cosponsors said it would enable and encourage new charter school start-ups and promote the replication and expansion of high-quality charter schools and new charter school models.
Provisions in the bill would increase the percentage of new competitive grants within CPS to replicate and expand the most successful public charter schools across the country. It would also take several steps to strengthen public charter school accountability, transparency and governance to ensure that federal dollars are spent wisely.
“Public charter schools give parents and students educational options in their neighborhoods,” Schock said. “By allowing more flexibility for these charter schools to use the CSP grant funding; they will be able to provide transportation, purchase instructional materials, implement teacher development programs and hire staff so we can help put more students on a path toward success.”