Scott, Feinstein Lead Bipartisan Letter to Protect Charter Schools

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) wrote a letter to President Biden’s secretary of education, Miguel Cardona, expressing their concerns about a proposed rule from the Department of Education that would jeopardize our nation’s charter schools and limit families’ education options.

“During the 2020-2021 academic year, nearly 240,000 new students enrolled in charter schools, representing a seven percent growth as compared to the previous academic year,” wrote the senators.“This clearly demonstrates how critical the [Charter Schools Program] is, as it is the only federal program dedicated to supporting the creation of new public charter schools, replicating high-quality public charter schools, and disseminating information about effective practices within charter schools. … CSP was designed to provide critical resources to expand access to high-quality charter schools, but these proposed regulations could restrict access to new high-quality public charter schools. As such, we are concerned that the NPP does not prioritize the needs of students and limits high quality choices to certain families.”

Background:

The majority of federal funding for charter schools comes from the 28-year-old, bipartisan federal Charter Schools Program (CSP). Despite a 7 percent increase in charter school enrollment throughout the 2020-2021 academic year, the Department of Education recently proposed a rule that would impose burdensome new requirements on charter schools, making it difficult — if not impossible — for many schools to receive funding.

Joining Senators Scott and Feinstein on the letter are Senators Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), and Richard Burr (R-N.C.), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Read the full letter here. 

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