II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 686 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to improve 

public charter schooling by addressing quality issues. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 30, 2011 

Ms. LANDRIEU (for herself, Mr. BENNET, Mr. CARPER, Mr. COONS, Mr. DURBIN, Mrs. HAGAN, and Mr. LIEBERMAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 to improve public charter schooling by addressing quality issues. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Charter School Quality 

5 Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 Section 5201 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu8 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7221) is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

2 the semicolon; 

3 (2) in paragraph (4), by striking the period and 

4 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

5 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(5) promoting high-quality professional au7 thorizing standards and practices.’’. 

8 SEC. 3. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 

9 Section 5202 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu10 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7221a) is amended— 

11 (1) in subsection (c)(2)(C), by striking ‘‘section 

12 5204(f)(6)(B)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 5205’’; and 

13 (2) in subsection (e)— 

14 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘sub15 paragraph (A), (B), or (C) of paragraph (3)’’ 

16 and inserting ‘‘subparagraph (A), (B), (C), (D), 

17 (E), (F), (G), (H), or (I) of paragraph (3)’’; 

18 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘en19 sures that each authorized public chartering 

20 agency holds every charter school that the agen21 cy oversees to student performance standards 

22 set forth in the charter school’s performance 

23 contract, holds each public chartering agency 

24 accountable under the evaluation system develVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:45 Mar 31, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S686.IS S686

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1 oped under paragraph (3)(G), and’’ after ‘‘that 

2 the State’’; and 

3 (C) in paragraph (3), by adding at the end 

4 the following: 

5 ‘‘(D) The State has— 

6 ‘‘(i) a statewide authorized public 

7 chartering agency with authority to— 

8 ‘‘(I) offer a statewide authorizing 

9 option for charter applicants; 

10 ‘‘(II) assume authorizing respon11 sibilities from another authorizer that 

12 has been determined through a 

13 State’s authorizer oversight process, 

14 as described in subparagraph (G), to 

15 be underperforming; or 

16 ‘‘(III) become the authorizer, 

17 upon appeal, for a school for which 

18 another authorizer has refused to ap19 prove a charter application that the 

20 statewide authorized public chartering 

21 agency determines deserves to be au22 thorized under the statewide author23 ized public chartering agency’s own 

24 application process; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) a funding mechanism in place to 

2 adequately support the operations of its 

3 statewide authorized public chartering 

4 agency. 

5 ‘‘(E) The State works cooperatively with 

6 its authorized public chartering agency to 

7 streamline data collection and reporting and 

8 avoid duplicative reporting requirements. 

9 ‘‘(F) The State ensures that authorized 

10 public chartering agencies follow high-quality 

11 standards that reflect research-based best prac12 tices. 

13 ‘‘(G) The State has developed a trans14 parent process for accrediting, training, or eval15 uating the effectiveness of the State’s author16 ized public chartering agencies, or each author17 ized public chartering agency in the State has 

18 implemented such a process, including— 

19 ‘‘(i) a process for annually reviewing 

20 and periodically evaluating the perform21 ance of the authorized public chartering 

22 agencies in the State in authorizing or ap23 proving public charter schools, including a 

24 process that enables the authorized public 

25 chartering agencies to respond to any 


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1 State concerns or deficiencies regarding 

2 such authorizing or approving; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) any other necessary policies to 

4 ensure effective charter school authorizing 

5 in the State that are developed in conjunc6 tion with the State’s charter school com7 munity in accordance with the principles of 

8 quality charter school authorizing, as de9 termined by the State in consultation with 

10 the charter school community and stake11 holders. 

12 ‘‘(H) The State’s authorizer evaluation 

13 process described in subparagraph (G) is acces14 sible to the public via online methods that 

15 school leaders, policymakers, parents, and other 

16 stakeholders can easily understand. The evalua17 tion system tracks each authorizer’s perform18 ance over time and in determining each author19 izer’s annual rating, examines such factors as 

20 the following: 

21 ‘‘(i) The academic and financial (in22 cluding annual audits) performance of all 

23 operating public charter schools overseen 

24 by the authorizer, according to the per25 formance expectations for public charter 


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1 schools set forth in each charter as well as 

2 determined by the State standardized as3 sessments administered to all public 

4 schools and any additional testing mutually 

5 agreed upon between each school and au6 thorizer clearly delineated in each school’s 

7 charter. 

8 ‘‘(ii) The status of each authorizer’s 

9 public charter school portfolio, identifying 

10 all public charter schools in each of the fol11 lowing categories: 

12 ‘‘(I) Approved (but not yet open). 

13 ‘‘(II) Operating. 

14 ‘‘(III) Renewed. 

15 ‘‘(IV) Transferred. 

16 ‘‘(V) Revoked. 

17 ‘‘(VI) Not renewed. 

18 ‘‘(VII) Voluntarily closed. 

19 ‘‘(VIII) Never opened. 

20 ‘‘(iii) Any additional factors necessary 

21 to ensure authorizers continually work to22 wards building charter school quality. 

23 ‘‘(I) The State has laws, policies, or proce24 dures in place requiring that student academic 

25 achievement for all groups of students described 


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1 in section 1111(b)(2)(C)(v) be a primary factor 

2 in authorizer decisions around charter school 

3 approval, renewal, and revocation, and the 

4 State has a record of, or demonstrated commit5 ment to, effective authorizer oversight and re6 voking or not renewing the charters of low-per7 forming charter schools.’’. 

8 SEC. 4. IMPROVING SUBGRANT PROCEDURES AND AU9 THORIZER TRANSPARENCY. 

10 Section 5203 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu11 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7221b) is amended— 

12 (1) in subsection (b)— 

13 (A) in paragraph (2)(C), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

14 after the semicolon; 

15 (B) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 

16 paragraph (4); 

17 (C) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 

18 following: 

19 ‘‘(3) describe the criteria that the State edu20 cational agency will use to award subgrants to eligi21 ble applicants to ensure high-quality charter schools, 

22 including through competitive subgrant competitions; 

23 and’’; and 


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1 (D) in paragraph (4) (as redesignated by 

2 subparagraph (B)), by striking subparagraph 

3 (D) and inserting the following: 

4 ‘‘(D) a description of the administrative re5 lationship between the charter school and the 

6 authorized public chartering agency, includ7 ing— 

8 ‘‘(i) how the school and authorizer will 

9 report publically the authorizing functions 

10 (such as approval, monitoring, and over11 sight) provided by the authorized public 

12 chartering agency to the public charter 

13 schools authorized or approved by such 

14 agency, including the authorizer’s oper15 ating costs and expenses detailed in annual 

16 audited financial statements that conform 

17 with generally accepted accounting prin18 ciples; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) how the services purchased (such 

20 as accounting, transportation, or data 

21 management and analysis) from the public 

22 chartering agency by the public charter 

23 schools authorized or approved by such 

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1 ing an itemized accounting of the actual 

2 costs of these services;’’; and 

3 (2) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ‘‘subsection 

4 (b)(3)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (b)(4)’’. 

5 SEC. 5. ADMINISTRATION. 

6 Section 5204 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu7 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7221c) is amended— 

8 (1) in subsection (a)— 

9 (A) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

10 after the semicolon; 

11 (B) in paragraph (7)— 

12 (i) by striking ‘‘subsection (f)(6)(B),’’ 

13 and inserting ‘‘section 5205’’; and 

14 (ii) by striking the period and insert15 ing ‘‘; and’’; and 

16 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(8) the rigor of the State’s subgrant competi18 tion to ensure that subgrants are awarded only to 

19 high-quality applicants that are likely to create high20 performing charter schools.’’; 

21 (2) in subsection (b)(7), by striking ‘‘subsection 

22 (f)(6)(B),’’ and inserting ‘‘section 5205’’; and 

23 (3) in subsection (f)— 

24 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘para25 graph (6)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 5205’’; and 


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1 (B) by striking paragraph (6). 

2 SEC. 6. NATIONAL ACTIVITIES. 

3 Section 5205 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu4 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7221d) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (a), in the matter preceding 

6 paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘The Secretary shall re7 serve for each fiscal year the greater of 5 percent or 

8 $5,000,000 of the amount appropriated to carry out 

9 this subpart, except that in no fiscal year shall the 

10 total amount so reserved exceed $10,000,000, to 

11 carry out the following activities:’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘The Secretary shall reserve for each fiscal year the 

13 necessary sums from amounts appropriated to carry 

14 out this subpart, except that in no fiscal year shall 

15 the total amount so reserved exceed 15 percent of 

16 such amount appropriated, to carry out the following 

17 activities:’’; and 

18 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(d) NATIONAL DISSEMINATION.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts appro21 priated to carry out this subpart for a fiscal year, 

22 the Secretary shall reserve not more than 

23 $10,000,000 to award grants to entities to carry out 

24 activities under this subsection. 


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1 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBILITY.—In order to be eligible to 

2 receive a grant under this subsection, an entity 

3 shall— 

4 ‘‘(A) be— 

5 ‘‘(i) a charter school that has been in 

6 operation for not less than 3 consecutive 

7 years and has demonstrated overall suc8 cess, including— 

9 ‘‘(I) substantial progress in im10 proving student academic achieve11 ment; 

12 ‘‘(II) high levels of parent satis13 faction; and 

14 ‘‘(III) the management and lead15 ership necessary to overcome initial 

16 start-up problems and establish a 

17 thriving, financially viable charter 

18 school; 

19 ‘‘(ii) a high-quality public chartering 

20 agency; 

21 ‘‘(iii) a nonprofit entity with a track 

22 record of success in meeting the objective 

23 of this subsection; or 

24 ‘‘(iv) a consortium of entities de25 scribed in clauses (i), (ii), and (iii); and 


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1 ‘‘(B) submit an application to the Sec2 retary at such time, in such manner, and con3 taining such information as the Secretary may 

4 require. 

5 ‘‘(3) CRITERIA FOR AWARDING GRANTS.—The 

6 Secretary shall award grants under this subsection 

7 on the basis of— 

8 ‘‘(A) the quality of the applicant and appli9 cation; 

10 ‘‘(B) the capacity of the applicant to exe11 cute the application; and 

12 ‘‘(C) the scale of the expected impact of 

13 the application. 

14 ‘‘(4) ACTIVITIES.—An entity that receives a 

15 grant under this subsection shall use funds received 

16 under the grant to assist other schools, authorized 

17 public chartering agencies, charter support organiza18 tions, and eligible entities in the grant recipient’s 

19 State and in other States in adopting successful in20 novations, or to disseminate information about inno21 vations, through activities such as— 

22 ‘‘(A) assisting other entities with the plan23 ning, start-up, and improvement of 1 or more 

24 new public schools, including charter schools, or 

25 new authorized public chartering agencies; 


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1 ‘‘(B) developing partnerships designed to 

2 improve student academic achievement, includ3 ing implementation and improvement plans for 

4 partnerships funded with dissemination grants; 

5 ‘‘(C) developing systems or materials that 

6 promote increased student achievement and are 

7 based on successful practices at charter schools, 

8 authorized public chartering agencies, charter 

9 support organizations, or eligible entities; 

10 ‘‘(D) conducting evaluations and devel11 oping materials that document successful prac12 tices at charter schools, authorized public char13 tering agencies, charter support organizations, 

14 or eligible entities and that are designed to im15 prove student performance in other schools; and 

16 ‘‘(E) training, regarding the innovative 

17 practices developed at the original site, for per18 sonnel that are adopting innovations or success19 ful practices.’’. 

20 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

21 Section 5210 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu22 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7221i) is amended— 

23 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

24 (A) by striking subparagraph (I) and in25 serting the following: 


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1 ‘‘(I) agrees to conduct an annual, inde2 pendent, and timely financial audit that is filed 

3 with the charter school’s authorized public char4 tering agency and carried out in accordance 

5 with applicable Federal and State require6 ments;’’; 

7 (B) in subparagraph (K), by striking 

8 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 

9 (C) by striking subparagraph (L) and in10 serting the following: 

11 ‘‘(L) has a written, legally-binding per12 formance contract or charter with an authorized 

13 public chartering agency in the State that— 

14 ‘‘(i) includes a description of how stu15 dent performance and growth will be meas16 ured in the charter school pursuant to 

17 State assessments that are required of 

18 other schools and pursuant to any other 

19 assessments mutually agreeable to the au20 thorized public chartering agency and the 

21 charter school; 

22 ‘‘(ii) describes the obligations and re23 sponsibilities of the school and of the au24 thorized public chartering agency; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) identifies the material aspects of 

2 the charter school’s operations; 

3 ‘‘(iv) describes the school’s edu4 cational objectives and outcomes and how 

5 such objectives and outcomes will be meas6 ured; 

7 ‘‘(v) articulates the autonomies the 

8 charter school will have; and 

9 ‘‘(vi) is negotiated and executed by 2 

10 separate legal entities, the charter school 

11 and the authorized public chartering agen12 cy, capable of entering into and enforcing 

13 the contract or charter; and’’; and 

14 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(M) is governed by a governing board 

16 that is independent from the authorized public 

17 chartering agency and has autonomy over deci18 sions, including matters concerning finance, 

19 personnel, scheduling, curriculum, and instruc20 tion.’’; and 

21 (2) in paragraph (4)— 

22 (A) in the heading, by inserting ‘‘OR AU23 THORIZER’’ after ‘‘CHARTERING AGENCY’’; 

24 (B) by inserting ‘‘or authorizer’’ after 

25 ‘‘chartering agency’’; and 


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1 (C) by adding after ‘‘charter school’’ the 

2 following: ‘‘and that uses student performance 

3 and growth, at the whole school level and for 

4 each subgroup described in section 

5 1111(b)(2)(C)(v) served by the school as a pri6 mary factor when assessing the performance of 

7 charter schools and when determining whether 

8 to renew or revoke a school’s charter, in addi9 tion to other criteria’’. 

Æ 


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