First Piece of ESEA Reauthorization Clears House Education Panel
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The first component of the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) passed the Education and the Workforce Committee with a bipartisan vote of 31 to 5. The “Empowering Parents through Quality Charter Schools Act” reforms and strengthens the current charter school program, especially as it relates to access for underserved populations and accountability and transparency among charter schools and their authorizers.
“When charter schools are run and managed effectively, and when they’re accessible and successful for all students, including students with disabilities and English Language Learners, they can be used as a tool to drive innovation in our schools,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), senior Democrat on the committee. “If we can keep up this pace of bipartisan action on education reform, and move forward with the rewrite of ESEA, we will be on track to dramatically transform our schools and finally bring them to the future.”
This reauthorization of the Charter School Program increases charter school accountability and transparency and makes critical improvements to return charter schools to their original purpose as public schools that identify and share innovative practices that lead to improvements for all public schools.
Under this reauthorization, students with disabilities, English language learners and other traditionally underserved students will have increased opportunities to attend and succeed at high-quality charter schools.
This bill holds charter schools accountable to their performance, their students, and their community though strengthening quality authorizing practices, providing transparency on financial audits, and putting student achievement and equal access at the center of decisions on renewal and expansion.
For more information on the rewrite of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, click here.
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