Date: 2014-05-09
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Chairman. I yield myself as much time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman. innovation is important to our country and to our communities. Innovation and education is a step up in our economic situation here in the United States. A highquality education is a foundationit is really a foundation. not just for individuals. but for families. for communities. for our Nation. That is one of the reasons why I believe that it is important to have charter schools and to have charter schools compete well. to have charter schools thought out well. They are an addition to what is going on in our public school system. Mr. Chairman. back in my area. I have two very. very outstanding charter schools right down the street from where I live. One of them is the Orange County School of the Arts. performing arts. and aside from that. it has one of the highest academic levels. In fact. it is in the top 10 charter schools in my home State of California. As you know. we represent a large amount of people. 38 million or so. so that is saying something. I also have the El Sol Science and Arts Academy just down the street. That is an elementary school. What it has seen is incredible achievement. the close of the achievement gap for lowerincome students. But not all schools are high qualitynot all charter schools are high quality. and what we need to do is recommit to ensuring that those schools we have. both traditional public and charter schools. as well as private schools. do a good job for America. so that is why I will be voting for H.R. 10. My amendment. Mr. Chairman. would simply work to ensure that community involvement is happening with charter schools. That is incredibly important. I know that. when I went to school. community was involved in my public school. and that is why it was one of the most outstanding elementary schools in our Nation at the time. I am pleased to have worked with my colleagues from both sides of the aisle on the amendment that I am offering today. which will hold public charter schools accountable in fostering and promoting community involvement. Simply said. the amendment requires State entities receiving funds through the Charter Schools Program to report on how their allocations are supporting and enhancing community involvement. The voices in our communities matter. the voices of parents. of educators. of stakeholders. Lets not forget that it is those communities that send each of us here to the United States House of Representatives. So I believe that charter schools must be engaged with the local community to understand the students they teach. and my amendment will strengthen the role of community in the process. Higher community involvement in schools is essential to the success of the students and is also essential to the families of those students. So I believe that this amendment will help us in making that gap of achievement that we see in so many areas where charter schools are located. making that gap of achievement smaller. While charter schools are not the final solution to the educational challenges in our country. lets ensure that all of our schools are positively contributing to the promise of a quality education for every child in every neighborhood. I urge my colleagues to support my amendment to improve this bill. Mr. Chairman. I reserve the balance of my time.