The U.S. House Education and Labor Committee’s top Republican today applauded charter school leaders for their success in improving student academic achievement, but argued that major reforms are needed to allow these innovative schools to serve more students and build on the most effective education reform strategies. Rep. Howard P. “Buck" McKeon (R-CA) also highlighted pro-charter school policies advanced by Republicans during a hearing held this morning that looked at “Building on What Works at Charter Schools."
“Charter schools are essential to turning around our nation’s ailing public schools system. They offer choices to parents and children, many of whom would otherwise be trapped in chronically underperforming public schools. And they have made great strides in raising achievement and tackling unique educational challenges from urban centers to rural areas," said McKeon. “But despite their many successes, charter schools are not growing as they should. They face overwhelming barriers to expansion, from arbitrary state caps to hostile state legislatures."
McKeon, along with the hearing’s witnesses, argued that restrictive policies at the state level have prevented charter schools from growing, leaving hundreds of thousands of children on waiting lists to attend these schools. While charter schools are public, they are exempt from much of the red tape and regulatory burden that makes reform difficult in the traditional public school system.
McKeon also suggested that federal policy can more effectively promote replication of effective charter schools by encouraging states to lift caps on the number of charter schools that can exist and the number of students these schools can serve. Republicans proposed legislation during the 110th Congress to incentivize charter school expansion at the state level while increasing awareness about the most effective strategies employed by charter schools. Similar proposals are likely to be offered by Republicans when Congress renews federal elementary and secondary education programs through reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act.
“It is not enough to talk about the importance of charter schools; we have to take action," said McKeon. “Paying lip-service to charters while failing to enact the right policies - or, worse, expanding charters while eliminating the features that make them work - would be unfair to these schools, the innovators behind them, and the students they serve."
For more information on Republican efforts to expand parental choice in education, including initiatives aimed at expanding access to charter schools, please visit the Education and Labor Committee Republican website.
