January 17, 2006

Dear Colleague:

I am pleased to write to you today to ask you and each of our colleagues who administer 
federal agencies to support a new federal government-wide effort to assist our 
nation's charter schools. This effort will focus on ensuring the inclusion of 
charter schools as eligible entities under appropriate federal programs that involve 
pre-kindergarten through twelfth-grade education.

As you may know, charter schools are publicly funded elementary and secondary 
  schools that operate under a charter, or contract, through which the charter 
  school receives freedom from many rules and regulations and, in return, the 
  school is accountable for its results. Federal and state statutes generally 
  classify charter schools as public schools, although a body or agency other 
  than a traditional public school district may operate them.

Today, 40 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico have authorized 
  over 3,400 charter schools that serve close to one million students. The President 
  is a strong supporter of charter schools and of the additional options they 
  provide to parents seeking the best educational opportunities for their children. 
  He has demonstrated his support of charter schools by including them as an integral 
  component in his original blueprint for the historic *No Child Left Behind 
  Act of 2001* and through the Administration's annual budget requests for 
  this Department's charter schools programs.

Today, the federal government is more open to a wide variety of public education 
  choices than ever before. For example, the Department of Education alone distributes 
  more than $200 million each year to support the planning, design, and development 
  of charter schools. In addition, this Department is also currently providing 
  more than $50 million a year to assist charter schools with their facility needs. 
  Charter schools are also affected by, and could benefit from, programs administered 
  by other federal agencies; however, administrators of those programs do not 
  always regard charter schools as equals with traditional public schools or local 
  school districts.

In many federal statutes, public education entities, such as state educational 
  agencies (SEAs) and local educational agencies (LEAs), qualify for billions 
  of dollars in federal funding. Charter schools, however, often are not specifically 
  mentioned in the statutes authorizing these programs and, consequently, are 
  often overlooked as potential beneficiaries or eligible applicants. This oversight 
  obviously adversely affects the students charter schools serve, a disproportionate 
  number of whom are minorities and from economically disadvantaged families.

Additionally, the established methods and procedures used by federal agencies 
  for administering grant funds and working with SEAs, LEAs, and schools oftentimes 
  do not specifically reach charter schools. This omission frequently results 
  in charter schools being excluded from many beneficial federal programs, further 
  limiting charter schools as a strategic school choice option.

In the weeks ahead, the Department's Office of Innovation and Improvement will 
  be in touch with your office to establish a point of contact for implementing 
  this initiative and to schedule a time to discuss and review it. Should your 
  staff have any questions, they may contact Dean Kern of the Department's Charter 
  Schools Program by telephone at 202-260-1882 or by e-mail at <dean.kern@ed.gov>.

Thank you in advance for your personal attention to this matter and for your 
  assistance as we seek to provide equitable treatment for our nation's charter 
  schools. I look forward to working with you to carry out the President's commitment 
  to ensuring that every child has access to the educational choice option that 
  best fits his or her needs.

| | Sincerely,        
| | ------------------
| | /s/               
| | Margaret Spellings



|Last Modified: 02/08/2006
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