Today's Date: March 28, 2024
Empire State Realty Trust Receives WELL Health-Safety Leadership Award; Becomes Among the First Commercial Office and Multifamil   •   Carnegie Learning Named 2024 SIIA CODiE Award Finalist for Best Educational Game and Best AI Implementation in Ed Tech   •   YMCA of the USA Partners With Old Spice To Increase High School Graduation Among Boys And Young Men Of Color Through Mentorship   •   Amerex Group Unveils Red Carter Swimwear's Revitalized Collection   •   Taro Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. Expands OTC Portfolio for Children with the Introduction of bébé Bottoms™   •   Equalpride Partners with TransLash Media for Trans Day of Visibility, Amplifying Voices of Black Trans Femmes in the Arts   •   Fastenal Releases 2024 Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Report   •   John Legend to Perform at City Year Los Angeles’ 13th Annual Spring Break Event   •   Make-A-Wish and celebrity wish granters announce goal to recruit 1 million people to become "WishMakers"   •   Parkland Corporation Announces the Results of the 2024 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders   •   VIRGIN HOTELS CHAMPIONS INCLUSIVE TRAVEL FOR NEURODIVERSE TRAVELERS   •   Visit Visalia Recognizes Autism Awareness Month in April   •   National University Receives 2024 Military Friendly® Gold Designation   •   Coachella Concerned That People Have Sex, Says AHF   •   Fosun Management on 2023 Annual Results: Focusing on Core Industries with Established Advantages   •   Re:wild and Colossal Biosciences team up to leverage revolutionary technology to save critically endangered species on the brink   •   Sypher Secures Strategic Partnership with FAIA to Fuel Growth   •   Suffolk Kicks off 2024 “Build With Us @ Suffolk” Program in Boston for Trade Partners, Opening Doors for Minority-,   •   Torrid Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2023 Results and Initiates Fiscal 2024 Guidance   •   Jamieson Wellness Publishes Inaugural Sustainability Impact Report
Bookmark and Share

Feds Need to Re-Think Charter School Policy

Department of Education wants to tie state funding to charter school quotas.

PHILADELPHIA – For many states, charter schools provide an alternative to struggling schools. In other states, charter schools are nonexistent. It’s up to individual states to set standards for charter schools with the goal of bridging achievement gaps among poor and minority students.

Now, the U.S. Department of Education is considering a plan to set a quota for the number of charter schools in each state and then evaluate state charter school laws. They would link federal funding to this pre-determined quota, which inadvertently punishes states without charter schools. Additionally, this effort, if implemented, could preempt states’ rights and usurp state chartering authority.

In a move to urge the Department of Education to refrain from linking a state’s charter school laws with its eligibility for federal assistance, the National Conference of State Legislatures enacted a policy resolution detailing its position on federal school reform efforts.

The policy states the Department of Education’s emphasis on charter schools as a means to improve struggling schools is a regulatory step that goes beyond the limits of the legislative intent of Congress.  Furthermore, the federal government should focus on the results of school reform efforts and not on the processes used to achieve reform goals. That should be left up to the states to determine.

“We have already seen and experienced the damage that can be done when the federal government adopts a component of reform from one state and imposes it upon the other 49,” according to the policy.

The policy on charter schools enacted at the NCSL Legislative Summit in Philadelphia states that education reform efforts must respect states’ interests and not preempt state law. NCSL policies on state-federal issues guide lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill.

The policies enacted were passed at the annual business meeting by three-fourths vote. Most policies are in place for three years. Other NCSL policy statements enacted contain this same theme: the federal government should avoid unfunded mandates and preemption of state authority and provide states flexibility to innovate in developing their solutions to policy challenges. 


 

NCSL is a bipartisan organization that serves the legislators and staffs of the states, commonwealths and territories. It provides research, technical assistance and opportunities for policymakers to exchange ideas on the most pressing state issues and is an effective and respected advocate for the interests of the states in the American federal system.

 



Back to top
| Back to home page
Video

White House Live Stream
LIVE VIDEO EVERY SATURDAY
alsharpton Rev. Al Sharpton
9 to 11 am EST
jjackson Rev. Jesse Jackson
10 to noon CST


Video

LIVE BROADCASTS
Sounds Make the News ®
WAOK-Urban
Atlanta - WAOK-Urban
KPFA-Progressive
Berkley / San Francisco - KPFA-Progressive
WVON-Urban
Chicago - WVON-Urban
KJLH - Urban
Los Angeles - KJLH - Urban
WKDM-Mandarin Chinese
New York - WKDM-Mandarin Chinese
WADO-Spanish
New York - WADO-Spanish
WBAI - Progressive
New York - WBAI - Progressive
WOL-Urban
Washington - WOL-Urban

Listen to United Natiosns News