Congress made progress this summer on efforts to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). This important law, which governs nearly all K-12 education programs, is long overdue for reauthorization. There is a long way to go (and it’s a bit discouraging that President Obama didn’t even mention it in either of his speeches last week); but the National Alliance is focused on ensuring that the final legislation reflects the priorities of the public charter school community.
On July 19, the U.S. House of Representatives passed its version of ESEA in H.R. 5, the Student Success Act. While H.R. 5 passed on a party-line vote, with no Democrats in support of the bill, we are pleased that the Charter Schools Program (CSP) section of the bill mirrored a bipartisan compromise reached in 2011 with the House Committee on Education and the Workforce’s Senior Democrat, Rep. George Miller (D-CA). In addition, a number of key changes were made to the bill during negotiations and floor consideration that reflected the National Alliance’s guiding principles for ESEA reauthorization. Now that the House has completed its work, all eyes are on the Senate. In mid-June, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee passed its version of ESEA reauthorization, S. 1094, the Strengthening America’s Schools Act, also on a party-line vote, with all Democrats in favor and all Republicans opposing. The bill now awaits consideration by the full Senate. Once the Senate bill is passed, the differences between the House and Senate bills will be resolved in a conference committee. We look forward to continuing to work with Congress to strengthen public charter schools, and are eager for more forward progress! Gina Mahony is senior vice president of government relations at the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. Additional Resources: National Alliance Letter of Support to Chairman John Kline (R-MN) National Alliance Letter of Support to Senior Democrat George Miller (D-CA)
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