III 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 447 

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

schools across the United States for ongoing contributions to education, 

and supporting the ideals and goals of the 13th annual National Charter 

Schools Week, to be held May 6 through May 12, 2012. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 8, 2012 

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

COBURN, Mr. DURBIN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mrs. HUTCHISON, Mr. KIRK, 

Mr. LIEBERMAN, Ms. MURKOWSKI, and Mr. VITTER) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

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

ongoing contributions to education, and supporting the 

ideals and goals of the 13th annual National Charter 

Schools Week, to be held May 6 through May 12, 2012. 

Whereas charter schools deliver high-quality public education 

and challenge all students to reach their potential; 

Whereas charter schools promote innovation and excellence in 

public education; 

Whereas charter schools provide thousands of families with 

diverse and innovative educational options for their children; 


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•SRES 447 ATS 

Whereas charter schools are public schools authorized by a 

designated public entity that— 

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

and students in the United States; and 

(2) promote the principles of quality, accountability, 

choice, and innovation; 

Whereas, in exchange for flexibility and autonomy, charter 

schools are held accountable by their sponsors for improving student achievement and for the financial and 

other operations of the charter schools; 

Whereas 40 States, the District of Columbia, and Guam have 

passed laws authorizing charter schools; 

Whereas, as of the date of approval of this resolution, 5,275 

charter schools are serving more than 2,000,000 children; 

Whereas in fiscal year 2011 and the 18 previous fiscal years, 

Congress has provided a total of more than 

$3,000,000,000 in financial assistance to the charter 

school movement through grants for planning, startup, 

implementation, dissemination, and facilities; 

Whereas numerous charter schools improve the achievements 

of students and stimulate improvement in traditional 

public schools; 

Whereas 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 charter schools often set higher and additional individual goals than the requirements of the Elementary 

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


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•SRES 447 ATS 

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

and truly accountable to the public; 

Whereas charter schools— 

(1) give parents the freedom to choose public 

schools; 

(2) routinely measure parental satisfaction levels; 

and 

(3) must prove their ongoing success to parents, policymakers, and the communities served by the charter 

schools; 

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; and 

Whereas the 13th annual National Charter Schools Week is 

scheduled to be held May 6 through May 12, 2012: 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— 

5 (A) ongoing contributions to education; 

6 (B) the impressive strides made in closing 

7 the persistent academic achievement gap in the 

8 United States; and 

9 (C) improving and strengthening the public 

10 school system in the United States; 


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•SRES 447 ATS 

1 (2) supports the ideals and goals of the 13th 

2 annual National Charter Schools Week, a week-long 

3 celebration to be held May 6 through May 12, 2012, 

4 in communities throughout the United States; and 

5 (3) encourages the people of the United States 

6 to hold appropriate programs, ceremonies, and ac7 tivities during National Charter Schools Week to 

8 demonstrate support for charter schools. 

Æ 


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