Presidential Documents

25821

Federal Register

Vol. 65, No. 86

Wednesday, May 3, 2000

Title 3—

The President

Proclamation 7297 of April 28, 2000

National Charter Schools Week, 2000

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Providing our children the high-quality education they need to succeed

is one of the greatest challenges we face as a Nation, and helping communities

establish public charter schools is one of the best ways we can meet that

challenge.

Charter schools—public schools that are started by parents, educators, and

communities working in partnership—are open to students of every background and ability. They also afford greater autonomy and flexibility in

staffing decisions, curriculum design, and other areas than traditional public

schools do. In return for this flexibility, charter schools must set and meet

the highest standards, and they can remain open only as long as they

do so.

These schools are helping us to meet many of our Nation’s most important

education goals. They are driving change in public schools across America

by showing the benefits of greater parent participation, longer school years,

higher academic standards, and character education. Charter schools offer

reform, innovation, and increased choice in public education, and, by doing

so, they spur improvement throughout our public school system.

I am proud that my Administration has taken a leadership role in promoting

and funding public charter schools. When I took office almost 8 years

ago, there was only one charter school in our Nation. By September of

last year, that number had grown to more than 1,600 in 30 States and

the District of Columbia, with more than 250,000 students enrolled and

many more on waiting lists. Since 1994, the Federal Government has invested

almost $400 million in public charter schools. Last August, I announced

the release of almost $100 million in Department of Education grants to

develop, open, or expand charter schools across the country. And my proposed budget for fiscal year 2001 includes $175 million for the Department

of Education’s Public Charter Schools Program. These grants and funds

will help cover the costs of opening new schools and help existing charter

schools hire more well-trained teachers, buy more books, computers, and

educational software, and ensure that classrooms are safe and accessible

for all students. Finally, these funds will aid charter schools as they develop

accountability systems to measure whether they are meeting or exceeding

State standards.

During National Charter Schools Week, I commend the many dedicated

parents, educators, students, and other concerned citizens who, working

together, have started charter schools in their communities to meet the

growing demand for excellence, creativity, and choice in education. Because

of their vision and leadership, charter schools across our Nation are helping

to raise standards, expectations, and accountability in all of America’s public

schools. By investing in charter schools, we are investing in our Nation’s

future.

25822 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 86 / Wednesday, May 3, 2000 / Presidential Documents

NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the United States

of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution

and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 1 through May

5, 2000, as National Charter Schools Week. I encourage the American people

to mark this observance with appropriate programs and activities that raise

awareness of the many contributions that public charter schools make to

the education of our children and the success of our Nation.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-eighth

day of April, in the year of our Lord two thousand, and of the Independence

[FR Doc. 00–11139

Filed 5–2–00; 8:45 am]

Billing code 3195–01–P

of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-fourth.

œ–