As Democrats and the Biden administration continue to fight against school choice, a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers unveiled on Thursday a House bill that would support the creation of new charter schools across the country.
Called the Empower Charter School Educators to Lead Act, the legislation would authorize state entities that receive grants through the federal Charter Schools Program (CSP) to apply a portion to the application and development of new charter schools.
Republican representative Julia Letlow (La.) sponsored the bill alongside GOP congressmen John James (Mich.) and Juan Ciscomani (Ariz.) as well as Democratic congresswoman Jill Tokuda (Hawaii), National Review learned in an exclusive.
Currently, the CSP does not allow funding to be used for the planning phase of charter schools. The legislation would allow up to 5 percent of CSP grants to be allocated to the formulation stage before an application is submitted for a charter school. State entities could administer pre-planning awards of up to $100,000 to prospective charter applicants under the bill.
To qualify, potential applicants must be led by educators with no less than 54 months of school-based experience, which could include teaching in or administering after-school or summer-school programs. Potential applicants must also have completed the formulation of an initial plan for opening a public charter school, according to the bill.
Under the bill, state entities could also direct a percentage of grant funds to technical assistance for charter schools. Such technical assistance might include locating and accessing a facility to house the charter school, which can be a major obstacle to launching one.
“Charter Schools provide children with excellent opportunities in education,” Letlow said in a statement, “I’m proud to introduce this critical legislation with my colleagues Congresswoman Jill Tokuda, Congressman John James, and Congressman Juan Ciscomani to support high-quality charter school developers so we can continue to expand learning opportunities for our students.”
Charter schools are one of the alternatives to the government-run school system. Publicly funded but operated by private companies, charter schools are free from many of the regulations imposed on traditional K-12 schools and are able to design instruction with more flexibility and innovation. Charter schools also give options to the low-income, largely racial-minority students who are served the worst by public schools. School-choice programs can facilitate enrollment in charter schools as well as other avenues such as private schools, magnet schools, homeschooling, and other options.
“I believe every child should have the best possible shot at success through education,” James said in a statement. “By slashing red tape and making it easier to start a charter school through legislation like the Empower Charter School Educators to Lead Act, we can expand academic opportunity, put parents back in the driver’s seat and ensure students reach their full potential. I’m proud to stand with my colleague, Rep. Julia Letlow, to introduce this legislation.”
The Biden administration has opposed school-choice efforts and charter schools, partly to appease teachers’ unions, such as Randi Weingarten’s American Federation of Teachers (AFT). Teachers’ unions risk losing their monopoly over K-12 with the introduction of competition for public education dollars. In April 2022, the Department of Education released rules recommending that charter schools “collaborate” with traditional public schools, stripping the latter of some of their independence. The AFT makes significant campaign contributions to Democratic candidates in each election cycle.
Charter schools were obliged under the rules to report to the federal government on their treatment of racial and socioeconomic diversity, even though many charter schools serve poor minority communities already. The AFT embraced the rules. The rules also required charter schools to prove they are needed by demonstrating that traditional public schools are over-enrolled.
“All of our students deserve the best when it comes to their education, and who knows better than our teachers,” Tokuda said in a statement. “That’s why I’m proud to join Rep. Letlow in introducing the Empowering Educators to Lead Act, which would provide more equitable access to pre-planning resources for educators looking to start public charter schools. In Hawaiʻi, public charter schools provide our keiki with innovative, high quality educational opportunities in their community. This bill will provide the funding and support needed for the often burdensome and complex process of opening a public charter school.”