I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2218 
To amend the charter school program under the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act of 1965. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 16, 2011 
Mr. HUNTER (for himself and Mr. KLINE) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To amend the charter school program under the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act of 1965. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Empowering Parents 
through Quality Charter Schools Act’’. 
SEC. 2. REFERENCES. 
Except as otherwise specifically provided, whenever in 
this Act a section or other provision is amended or re-
pealed, such amendment or repeal shall be considered to 
be made to that section or other provision of the Elemen-
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tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
6301 et seq.). 
SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 
Section 5201 (20 U.S.C. 7221) is amended to read 
as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 5201. PURPOSE. 
‘‘It is the purpose of this subpart to— 
‘‘(1) provide financial assistance for the plan-
ning, program design, and initial implementation of 
charter schools; 
‘‘(2) expand the number of high-quality charter 
schools available to students across the Nation; 
‘‘(3) evaluate the impact of such schools on stu-
dent achievement, families, and communities, and 
share best practices with other public schools; 
‘‘(4) encourage States to provide support to 
charter schools for facilities financing in an amount 
more nearly commensurate to the amount the States 
have typically provided for traditional public schools; 
‘‘(5) improve student services to increase oppor-
tunities for students with disabilities, English lan-
guage learners, and other traditionally underserved 
students to attend charter schools and meet chal-
lenging State academic achievement standards; and 
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‘‘(6) support efforts to strengthen the charter 
school authorizing process to improve performance 
management, including transparency, monitoring, 
and evaluation of such schools.’’. 
SEC. 4. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 
Section 5202 (20 U.S.C. 7221a) is amended to read 
as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 5202. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—This subpart authorizes the Sec-
retary to carry out a charter school program that supports 
charter schools that serve elementary school and sec-
ondary school students by— 
‘‘(1) supporting the startup, replication, and ex-
pansion of charter schools; 
‘‘(2) assisting charter schools in accessing cred-
it to acquire and renovate facilities for school use; 
and 
‘‘(3) carrying out national activities to support 
charter school development, the dissemination of 
best practices of charter schools for all schools, and 
the evaluation of the impact of the program on 
schools participating in the program. 
‘‘(b) FUNDING
ALLOTMENT.—From the amount 
made available under section 5211 for a fiscal year, the 
Secretary shall— 
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‘‘(1) reserve 15 percent to support charter 
school facilities assistance under section 5204; 
‘‘(2) reserve not more than 5 percent to carry 
out national activities under section 5205; and 
‘‘(3) use the remaining amount after the Sec-
retary reserves funds under paragraphs (1) and (2) 
to carry out section 5203. 
‘‘(c) PRIOR GRANTS AND SUBGRANTS.—The recipi-
ent of a grant or subgrant under this subpart, as such 
subpart was in effect on the day before the date of enact-
ment of the Empowering Parents through Quality Charter 
Schools Act, shall continue to receive funds in accordance 
with the terms and conditions of such grant or subgrant.’’. 
SEC. 5. GRANTS TO SUPPORT QUALITY CHARTER SCHOOLS. 
Section 5203 (20 U.S.C. 7221b) is amended to read 
as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 5203. GRANTS TO SUPPORT QUALITY CHARTER 
SCHOOLS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—From the amount reserved 
under section 5202(b)(3), the Secretary shall award 
grants to State entities having applications approved pur-
suant to subsection (e) to enable such entities to— 
‘‘(1) award subgrants to eligible applicants 
for— 
‘‘(A) new charter schools; 
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‘‘(B) replicable, high-quality charter school 
models; and 
‘‘(C) the expansion of high-quality charter 
schools; and 
‘‘(2) provide technical assistance (which may be 
provided by awarding subgrants to other entities) to 
eligible applicants and authorized public chartering 
agencies in carrying out the activities described in 
paragraph (1) and work with authorized public char-
tering agencies in the State to improve the author-
izing quality. 
‘‘(b) STATE USES OF FUNDS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State entity receiving a 
grant under this section shall— 
‘‘(A) use 90 percent of the grant funds for 
activities to support quality charter schools de-
scribed in the entity’s application approved pur-
suant to subsection (e) by carrying out a qual-
ity charter school program to award subgrants 
to eligible applicants for the purposes described 
in subparagraphs (A) through (C) of subsection 
(a)(1); and 
‘‘(B) reserve 10 percent of such funds to 
carry out the activities described in subsection 
(a)(2), of which not more than 30 percent may 
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be used for administrative costs (including the 
costs for providing the technical assistance de-
scribed in subsection (a)(2)). 
‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—A State entity 
receiving a grant under this section may not use 
more than 30 percent of the funds reserved under 
paragraph (1)(B) for administrative costs, which 
may include providing the technical assistance de-
scribed in subsection (a)(2). 
‘‘(c) PROGRAM PERIODS; PEER REVIEW; DIVERSITY 
OF PROJECTS.— 
‘‘(1) PROGRAM PERIODS.— 
‘‘(A) GRANTS.—A grant awarded by the 
Secretary to a State entity under this section 
shall be for a period of not more than 5 years. 
‘‘(B) SUBGRANTS.—A subgrant awarded 
by a State entity to an eligible applicant under 
this section shall be for a period of not more 
than 5 years, of which the eligible applicant 
may use not more than 18 months for planning 
and program design. 
‘‘(2) PEER REVIEW.—The Secretary, and each 
State entity receiving a grant under this section, 
shall use a peer review process to review applications 
for assistance under this section. 
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‘‘(3) DIVERSITY OF PROJECTS.—Each State en-
tity receiving a grant under this section, shall award 
subgrants under this section in a manner that, to 
the extent possible, ensures that such subgrants— 
‘‘(A) are distributed throughout different 
areas, including urban, suburban, and rural 
areas; and 
‘‘(B) will assist charter schools rep-
resenting a variety of educational approaches. 
‘‘(d) LIMITATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) GRANTS.—A State entity may not receive 
more than 1 grant under this section for a 5-year 
period. 
‘‘(2) SUBGRANTS.—An eligible applicant may 
not receive more than 1 subgrant under this section 
per charter school for a 5-year period. 
‘‘(e) APPLICATIONS.—A State entity desiring to re-
ceive a grant under this section shall submit an application 
to the Secretary at such time and in such manner as the 
Secretary may require. The application shall include the 
following: 
‘‘(1) DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM.—A descrip-
tion of the entity’s objectives in running a quality 
charter school program under this section and how 
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the objectives of such program will be carried out, 
including a description— 
‘‘(A) of how the entity— 
‘‘(i) will support both new charter 
school start up and the expansion and rep-
lication of high-quality charter school mod-
els; 
‘‘(ii) 
will 
inform 
eligible 
charter 
schools, developers, and authorized public 
chartering agencies of the availability of 
funds under this program; 
‘‘(iii) will work with eligible applicants 
to ensure that the applicants access all 
Federal funds that they are eligible to re-
ceive, and ensure charter schools and stu-
dents attending charter schools will receive 
the commensurate share of Federal funds 
the schools and students are eligible to re-
ceive and participate; 
‘‘(iv) will support efforts to increase 
quality initiatives for charter schools; 
‘‘(v) in the case in which the entity is 
not a State educational agency— 
‘‘(I) will work with the State edu-
cational 
agency 
and 
the 
charter 
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schools in the State to maximize char-
ter school participation in Federal and 
State programs for charter schools; 
and 
‘‘(II) will work with the State 
educational agency, where applicable, 
to adequately operate the subgrant 
program under this section; 
‘‘(vi) will ensure eligible applicants 
that receive a subgrant under this section 
are prepared to continue to operate once 
the subgrant funds have expired; 
‘‘(vii) will support charter schools in 
local educational agencies with large num-
bers of schools that must comply with the 
requirements of section 1116(b); 
‘‘(viii) will work with charter schools 
to promote inclusion of all students, en-
gage in additional recruitment efforts with 
respect to groups that might otherwise 
have limited opportunities to participate in 
the charter school’s program, and support 
students once they are admitted to the 
school to help avoid drop outs and trans-
fers; 
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‘‘(ix) will ensure the charter schools 
they support can meet the educational 
needs of their students, including students 
with disabilities and English language 
learners; and 
‘‘(x) will meet the quality authorizing 
elements described in paragraph (2)(F); 
‘‘(B) of the extent to which the entity— 
‘‘(i) is able to meet and implement the 
priorities listed in subsection (f)(2); and 
‘‘(ii) 
is 
working 
to 
develop 
or 
strengthen a cohesive statewide system to 
support the opening of new charter schools 
and high-quality replicable charter school 
models, and expanding high-quality charter 
schools; and 
‘‘(C) in the case of an entity that partners 
with an outside organization, of what respon-
sibilities the organization will have in carrying 
out the quality charter school program under 
this section. 
‘‘(2) ASSURANCES.—An assurance, including a 
description of how the assurance will be met, that— 
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‘‘(A) each charter school receiving funds 
under the entity’s program will have a high de-
gree of autonomy; 
‘‘(B) the entity will support charter schools 
so they will meet the educational needs of their 
students as described in paragraph (1)(A)(ix); 
‘‘(C) the entity will ensure that the author-
ized public chartering agency of any charter 
school that receives funds under the entity’s 
program— 
‘‘(i) ensures that the charter school 
can meet the obligations under this Act, 
the Individuals with Disabilities Education 
Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the 
Rehabilitation Act of 1974; and 
‘‘(ii) adequately monitors and helps 
the schools meet the needs of students with 
disabilities and English language learners; 
‘‘(D) the entity will award subgrants to eli-
gible applicants that provide such funds to 
charter schools that offer an evidence-based, 
quality academic experience; 
‘‘(E) the entity will provide adequate tech-
nical assistance to eligible applicants to— 
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‘‘(i) meet the recruiting practices de-
scribed in paragraph (1)(A)(viii); 
‘‘(ii) meet the educational needs of 
their students, including through activities 
described in paragraph (1)(A)(ix); and 
‘‘(iii) enroll students with disabilities, 
English language learners, and other tradi-
tionally underserved populations at a rate 
similar to traditional public schools in the 
area; and 
‘‘(F) the entity will award support quality 
authorizing that will help all authorized public 
chartering agencies in the State to adequately 
monitor their charter schools, including by— 
‘‘(i) using annual performance data to 
ensure their charter schools are successful; 
‘‘(ii) assisting their charter schools to 
conduct annual financial audits, as re-
quired under State and Federal law; and 
‘‘(iii) utilizing quality control meas-
ures. 
‘‘(3) REQUESTS FOR WAIVERS.—A request and 
justification for waivers of any Federal statutory or 
regulatory provisions that the entity believes are nec-
essary for the successful operation of the charter 
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schools that will receive funds under the entity’s pro-
gram under this section, and a description of any 
State or local rules, generally applicable to public 
schools, that will be waived, or otherwise not apply 
to such schools. 
‘‘(f) SELECTION CRITERIA; PRIORITY.— 
‘‘(1) SELECTION
CRITERIA.—The Secretary 
shall award grants to State entities under this sec-
tion on the basis of the quality of the applications 
submitted under subsection (e), after taking into 
consideration— 
‘‘(A) the degree of flexibility afforded by 
the State’s public charter school law and how 
the entity will work to maximize the flexibility 
provided to charter schools under the law; 
‘‘(B) the ambitiousness of the State enti-
ty’s objectives for the quality charter school 
program carried out under this section; 
‘‘(C) the quality of the strategy for assess-
ing achievement of those objectives; 
‘‘(D) the likelihood that the eligible appli-
cants receiving subgrants under the program 
will meet those objectives and improve edu-
cational results for students; 
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‘‘(E) the number of new, expanded, or rep-
licated charter schools proposed to be opened, 
and the number of high quality charter schools 
to be replicated or expanded under the pro-
gram, by such eligible applicants; 
‘‘(F) the entity’s plan to adequately mon-
itor its subgrantees and work with the author-
ized public chartering agencies to avoid duplica-
tion of work for the schools and authorized pub-
lic chartering agencies; 
‘‘(G) the entity’s plan to provide adequate 
technical assistance, as described in the entity’s 
application under subsection (e), for the eligible 
applicants receiving subgrants under this sec-
tion; and 
‘‘(H) the entity’s plan to support quality 
authorizing efforts in the State. 
‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this 
section, the Secretary shall give priority to State en-
tities to the extent that they meet the following cri-
teria: 
‘‘(A) In the case of a State that allows 
more than the State educational agency or a 
local educational agency to be an authorized 
public chartering agency, has a quality author-
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ized public chartering agency other than the 
State educational agency. 
‘‘(B) The State entity does not impose any 
limitation on the number or percentage of char-
ter schools that may exist or the number or 
percentage of students that may attend charter 
schools in the State. 
‘‘(C) The State entity ensures equitable fi-
nancing, as compared to traditional public 
schools, for charter schools and students in a 
prompt manner. 
‘‘(D) The State entity supports full-, 
blended, or hybrid-online charter school models. 
‘‘(E) The State entity will work with the 
traditional public school system to include char-
ter school operators in decisions about the pub-
lic school system in the State. 
‘‘(F) The State entity uses charter schools 
to help turn around struggling schools and local 
educational agencies. 
‘‘(G) The State entity provides for or 
works with the State educational agency to pro-
vide an appeals process for charter schools who 
have been denied an application for a charter 
school. 
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‘‘(H) The State entity partners with an or-
ganization that has a demonstrated record of 
success in developing management organiza-
tions to support the development of charter 
schools in the State. 
‘‘(g) LOCAL USES OF FUNDS.—An eligible applicant 
receiving a subgrant under this section shall use such 
funds to— 
‘‘(1) open new charter schools and high-quality 
charter school models that are replicable, or expand 
existing high-quality charter schools; and 
‘‘(2) support quality authorizing. 
‘‘(h) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Each State enti-
ty receiving a grant under this section shall submit at the 
end of the third year of the 5-year grant period and at 
the end of such grant period a report to the Secretary 
on— 
‘‘(1) the number of students served and, if ap-
plicable how many new students were served during 
each year of the grant period; 
‘‘(2) the number of subgrants awarded under 
this section for— 
‘‘(A) new charter schools; 
‘‘(B) replicable charter schools; and 
‘‘(C) the expansion of charter schools; 
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