All-STAR Act of 2013

Bill: 113-hr-2252
Sponsor: Rep. Polis, Jared [D-CO-2]
Introduced: 2013-06-04 in the House
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Academic performance and assessments
Building construction
Credit and credit markets
Education of the disadvantaged
Education programs funding
Educational facilities and institutions
Elementary and secondary education
Performance measurement
School administration

Summary:
action_date: 2013-06-04
text: 
All Students Achieving through Reform Act of 2013 or the All-STAR Act of 2013 - Revises subpart 1 (Charter School Programs) of part B (Public Charter Schools) of title V (Promoting Informed Parental Choice and Innovative Programs) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, including by subsuming subpart 2 (Credit Enhancement Initiatives to Assist Charter School Facility Acquisition, Construction, and Renovation) under subpart 1. 
 
Replaces the current charter school grant program with a program awarding grants to states, authorized public chartering agencies, or local educational agencies and, through them, subgrants to charter school developers to open new charter schools and expand and replicate high-quality charter schools. 
 
Requires grantees to: (1) use 10% of the grant funds to provide technical assistance to subgrantees and authorized public chartering agencies, and (2) work with those agencies to improve the charter school authorization process. 
 
Requires the Secretary of Education to award credit enhancement grants to applicants that have the highest-quality applications, after considering the diversity of such applications. (Currently, the Secretary is required to award at least three grants, including at least one to a public entity, one to a private nonprofit entity, and one to a consortium of such entities, provided an application from each merits approval.)
 
Revises the per-pupil facilities aid program (under which the Secretary makes competitive matching grants to states to provide per-pupil financing to charter schools) to allow states to: (1) partner with organizations to provide up to 50% of the state share of funding for the program; and (2) receive more than one program grant, so long as the amount of the grant funds provided to charter schools increases with each successive grant.
 
Directs the Secretary to conduct national activities that include: (1) disseminating best practices and technical assistance to this Act's grantees; (2) developing, in partnership with the Institute for Education Sciences, performance metrics to evaluate charter school startup, replication, and expansion efforts; and (3) awarding competitive grants directly to charter school developers or charter management organizations to open new charter schools and expand and replicate high-quality charter schools.
 
Allows charter schools to: (1) admit students through a lottery that gives added weight to impoverished students, if authorized by state law and the school's charter; and (2) serve prekindergarten or postsecondary school students.
 
Reauthorizes appropriations through FY2019.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-07-08
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education.
action_date: 2013-06-04
text: Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
action_date: 2013-06-04
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2013-06-04
text: Introduced in House