III 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 230 

Congratulating the students, parents, teachers, and leaders of charter schools 

across the United States for making ongoing contributions to education, 

and supporting the ideals and goals of the 22nd annual National Charter 

Schools Week, to be held May 9 through May 15, 2021. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 24, 2021 

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina (for himself, Mr. BENNET, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. 

BRAUN, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. CRUZ, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. 

SCOTT of Florida, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. WICKER, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. 

TUBERVILLE, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. TOOMEY, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. BOOKER, 

Mr. RUBIO, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. CARPER, Mr. HAGERTY, and Mr. 

MCCONNELL) submitted the following resolution; which was considered 

and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Congratulating the students, parents, teachers, and leaders 

of charter schools across the United States for making 

ongoing contributions to education, and supporting the 

ideals and goals of the 22nd annual National Charter 

Schools Week, to be held May 9 through May 15, 2021. 

Whereas charter schools are public schools that do not charge 

tuition and enroll any student who wants to attend, often 

through a random lottery when the demand for enrollment is outmatched by the supply of available charter 

school seats; 


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•SRES 230 ATS 

Whereas high-performing public charter schools deliver a 

high-quality public education and challenge all students 

to reach their potential for academic success; 

Whereas public charter schools promote innovation and excellence in public education; 

Whereas public charter schools throughout the United States 

provide millions of families with diverse and innovative 

educational options for the children of those families; 

Whereas high-performing public charter schools and charter 

management organizations are increasing student 

achievement and attendance rates at institutions of higher education; 

Whereas public charter schools are authorized by a designated entity and— 

(1) respond to the needs of communities, families, 

and students in the United States; and 

(2) promote the principles of quality, accountability, 

choice, high-performance, and innovation; 

Whereas, in exchange for flexibility and autonomy, public 

charter schools are held accountable by the authorizers of 

the charter schools for improving student achievement 

and for sound financial and operational management; 

Whereas public charter schools are required to 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; 

Whereas public charter schools often set higher expectations 

for students, beyond the requirements of the Elementary 

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


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•SRES 230 ATS 

et seq.), to ensure that the charter schools are of high 

quality and truly accountable to the public; 

Whereas 44 States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and 

Puerto Rico have public charter schools; 

Whereas, as of the 2018–2019 school year, more than 7,500 

public charter schools served approximately 3,300,000 

children; 

Whereas enrollment in public charter schools grew from 

400,000 students in 2001 to 3,300,000 students in 2019, 

a more than eightfold increase in 18 years; 

Whereas in the United States— 

(1) in 241 school districts, more than 10 percent of 

public school students are enrolled in public charter 

schools; and 

(2) in at least 29 school districts, at least 30 percent 

of public school students are enrolled in public charter 

schools; 

Whereas public charter schools improve the achievement of 

students enrolled in the charter schools and collaborate 

with traditional public schools to improve public education for all students; 

Whereas public charter schools— 

(1) give parents the freedom to choose public 

schools; 

(2) routinely measure parental satisfaction levels; 

and 

(3) must prove the ongoing success of the charter 

schools to parents, policymakers, and the communities 

served by the charter schools or risk closure; 

Whereas a 2015 report from the Center for Research on 

Education Outcomes at Stanford University found sigVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:14 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR230.ATS SR230

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•SRES 230 ATS 

nificant improvements for students at urban charter 

schools, and, when compared to peers in traditional public schools, each year those students completed the equivalent of 28 more days of learning in reading and 40 more 

days of learning in math; 

Whereas a 2020 study from the Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard University found greater 

academic gains for students in charter schools than for 

students in traditional public schools who took the reading and math assessments administered by the National 

Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in fourth 

and eighth grade between 2005 and 2017, and African 

American and low-income students attending charter 

schools were almost 6 months ahead of their peers in 

reading and math compared with students in traditional 

public schools over the 12-year span of the study; 

Whereas parental demand for charter schools is high, and 

there was nearly 5 percent growth in charter school enrollment between the 2017–2018 and 2018–2019 school 

years; and 

Whereas the 22nd annual National Charter Schools Week is 

scheduled to be celebrated the week of May 9 through 

May 15, 2021: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) congratulates the students, families, teach3 ers, leaders, and staff of public charter schools 

4 across the United States for— 

5 (A) making ongoing contributions to public 

6 education; 


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•SRES 230 ATS 

1 (B) making impressive strides in closing 

2 the academic achievement gap in schools in the 

3 United States, particularly in schools with some 

4 of the most disadvantaged students in both 

5 rural and urban communities; and 

6 (C) improving and strengthening the public 

7 school system throughout the United States; 

8 (2) supports the ideals and goals of the 22nd 

9 annual National Charter Schools Week, a week-long 

10 celebration to be held May 9 through May 15, 2021, 

11 in communities throughout the United States; and 

12 (3) encourages the people of the United States 

13 to hold appropriate programs, ceremonies, and ac14 tivities during National Charter Schools Week to 

15 demonstrate support for public charter schools. 

Æ 


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