Charter Schools Get Bipartisan Boost From U.S. House
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Even as some question the need to increase charter school funding, the U.S. House of Representatives -- in a rare show of bipartisanship -- voted to do just that Friday.
The House voted 360-45 to approve the Success and Opportunity through Quality Charter Schools Act, which would update the federal charter school program and push for an increase in charter school funding from $250 million to $300 million. The existing program uses a grant competition to fund the creation of entirely new public charter schools; it was initially enacted as part of the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act.
The upgrades, similar to those proposed in a House bill that passed in 2011, would combine separate federal charter school funding streams; allow charter schools receiving federal funding to give special-needs students and English language learners extra weight in admissions lotteries; and permit existing charter school chains, known as Charter Management Organizations, to receive federal funding to open new schools within their chains.
"It specifically allows for the program to expand and replicate successful models, not just fund entirely new schools," Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), who sits on the House Rules Committee, told The Huffington Post.
Despite Friday's bipartisan vote, charter schools, which are publicly funded but can be privately run, remain somewhat controversial, most recently becoming the subject of a bitter political fight in New York City. Teachers' unions, school board associations and other groups argued that the congressional legislation does not go far enough in requiring charter schools to be transparent and to serve students with disabilities and English language learners.
The American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association, the nation's two largest teachers' unions, sent the House letters calling for the bill to bestronger on charter school accountability.
AFT President Randi Weingarten wrote, "We are disheartened and discouraged when we see reports like the one released this week documenting millions of dollars in Charter Schools Get Bipartisan Boost From U.S. House: