THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

          PRESIDENT CLINTON RELEASES $100 MILLION IN GRANTS 
                TO SUPPORT PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS                            
                                                                     
                         August 28, 1999                            

In his weekly radio address, President Clinton announced that the U.S. Department of Education will distribute almost $100 million in grants to support public charter schools. The awards include $41 million in new grants and $54 million in continuation grants. Charter schools are public schools started by parents, teachers, and communities, open to all, and given more autonomy and flexibility than traditional public schools in staffing decisions, curricula design and other areas. In exchange, they are held to high levels of accountability for student achievement defined in a public performance contract or "charter."

INCREASING FEDERAL INVESTMENTS IN CHARTER SCHOOLS. The grants that the President released today will help new charter schools with costs associated with planning, opening or expanding a new school. The money may be used to purchase materials and supplies, hire staff, and provide high-quality professional development for teachers. Public charter schools also use federal funds to develop accountability systems for student achievement that are aligned with state standards. In addition, this year successful charter schools with at least three years of experience will be able to use funds to help disseminate best practices to other schools or to help individuals or groups starting new public charter schools learn from their experience.

President Clinton's ONGOING leadership in support of charter schools. When the President was first elected, there was only one public charter school operating in the United States. According to the U.S. Department of Education, more than 1700 public charter schools will be open this year. Federal leadership and assistance has played a key role in this rapid growth by supporting the development and growth of individual public charter schools and helping to disseminate effective practices and strategies among schools. 36 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia now have laws that allow the creation of charter schools.

IMPROVING PUBLIC EDUCATION AND EMPOWERING PARENTS.

• Public charter schools exemplify a standards-based approach to education. A public authority works with each charter school to establish clear performance standards in its charter, and the school is then held accountable for meeting those standards. Charter schools that fail to meet the terms of their charter are closed down. The federal law supporting charter schools, which was reauthorized with the President's leadership in 1998, gives priority in awarding grants to states that have strong standards for determining that schools are fulfilling the terms of their charters, and students are meeting academic standards and goals. Charter schools receiving funding from the federal government must also be measured by the same state assessments as any other public school. Moreover, public charter schools serve a diverse student population. According to the U.S. Department of Education, 52 percent of charter school students in 1997-98 were white, compared to 58 percent in all public schools in their states. About 16 percent of public charter schools serve a higher percentage of students of color than do traditional public schools in their surrounding districts, and seven out of ten have a student body racial/ethnic composition that is similar to their surrounding district.
• President Clinton believes that providing public school choice for parents will help build a public school system that meets the individual needs of every student and helps all students reach high academic standards. States and school districts around the country are using public charter schools, magnet schools, theme or focus schools, inter-district choice options, and other innovations to offer parents and children high-quality options to find the school that best suits their needs. Surveys find high levels of support and satisfaction among parents of public charter school students. A recent national survey found that 65 percent of parents rated their child's public charter school as better than their former public school (only 6 percent rated them worse). The U.S. Department of Education reports that seven out of ten charter schools have a waiting list of students who want to enroll.

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