III 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 134 

Congratulating the students, parents, teachers, and administrators at charter 

schools across the United States for their ongoing contributions to education and supporting the ideas and goals of the 10th annual National 

Charter Schools Week, May 3 through May 9, 2009. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 6, 2009 

Ms. LANDRIEU (for herself, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. LIEBERMAN, Mr. CARPER, 

Mr. BAYH, Mr. BURR, Mr. GREGG, and Mr. VITTER) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Congratulating the students, parents, teachers, and administrators at charter schools across the United States for 

their ongoing contributions to education and supporting 

the ideas and goals of the 10th annual National Charter 

Schools Week, May 3 through May 9, 2009. 

Whereas charter schools deliver high-quality education and 

challenge all students to reach their potential; 

Whereas charter schools provide thousands of families with 

diverse and innovative educational options for their children; 

Whereas charter schools are public schools authorized by a 

designated public entity that respond to the needs of 

communities, families, and students in the United States 


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•SRES 134 ATS 

and promote the principles of quality, choice, and innovation; 

Whereas, in exchange for the flexibility and autonomy given 

to charter schools, they are held accountable by their 

sponsors for improving student achievement and for their 

financial and other operations; 

Whereas 40 States and the District of Columbia have passed 

laws authorizing charter schools; 

Whereas approximately 4,700 charter schools are now operating in 40 States and the District of Columbia, serving 

more than 1,400,000 students; 

Whereas, during the last 14 years, Congress has provided 

more than $2,478,288,000 in financial assistance to the 

charter school movement through facilities financing assistance and grants for planning, startup, implementation, and dissemination; 

Whereas many charter schools improve the achievements of 

students and stimulate improvement in traditional public 

schools; 

Whereas charter schools must meet the student achievement 

accountability requirements under the Elementary and 

Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et 

seq.) in the same manner as traditional public schools 

and often set higher and additional individual goals to 

ensure that charter schools are of high quality and truly 

accountable to the public; 

Whereas charter schools give parents new freedom to choose 

public schools, routinely measure parental satisfaction 

levels, and must prove their ongoing success to parents, 

policymakers, and their communities; 


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Whereas more than 50 percent of charter schools report having a waiting list, and the total number of students on 

all such waiting lists is enough to fill more than 1,100 

average-sized charter schools; 

Whereas the President has called for increased Federal support for replicating and expanding high-performing charter schools to meet the dramatic demand created by the 

more than 365,000 children on charter school waiting 

lists; and 

Whereas the 10th annual National Charter Schools Week is 

May 3 through May 9, 2009: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) congratulates the students, parents, teach3 ers, and administrators of charter schools across the 

4 United States for their ongoing contributions to edu5 cation, especially their impressive results in closing 

6 the persistent achievement gap in the United States, 

7 and improving and strengthening the public school 

8 system in the United States; 

9 (2) supports the ideas and goals of the 10th an10 nual National Charter Schools Week, a week-long 

11 celebration to be held May 3 through May 9, 2009, 

12 in communities throughout the United States; and 

13 (3) encourages the people of the United States 

14 to conduct appropriate programs, ceremonies, and 


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1 activities during National Charter Schools Week to 

2 demonstrate support for charter schools. 

Æ 


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