§8061. Findings and purpose

(a) Findings

The Congress finds that-

(1) enhancement of parent and student choices among public schools can assist in promoting comprehensive educational reform and give more students the opportunity to learn to challenging State content standards and challenging State student performance standards, if sufficiently diverse and high-quality choices, and genuine opportunities to take advantage of such choices, are available to all students;

(2) useful examples of such choices can come from States and communities that experiment with methods of offering teachers and other educators, parents, and other members of the public the opportunity to design and implement new public schools and to transform existing public schools;

(3) charter schools are a mechanism for testing a variety of educational approaches and should, therefore, be exempted from restrictive rules and regulations if the leadership of such schools commits to attaining specific and ambitious educational results for educationally disadvantaged students consistent with challenging State content standards and challenging State student performance standards for all students;

(4) charter schools, as such schools have been implemented in a few States, can embody the necessary mixture of enhanced choice, exemption from restrictive regulations, and a focus on learning gains;

(5) charter schools, including charter schools that are schools-within-schools, can help reduce school size, which reduction can have a significant effect on student achievement;

(6) the Federal Government should test, evaluate, and disseminate information on a variety of charter school models in order to help demonstrate the benefits of this promising educational reform; and

(7) there is a strong documented need for cash-flow assistance to charter schools that are starting up, because State and local operating revenue streams are not immediately available.

(b) Purpose

It is the purpose of this subpart to increase national understanding of the charter schools model by-

(1) providing financial assistance for the planning, program design and initial implementation of charter schools;

(2) evaluating the effects of such schools, including the effects on students, student achievement, staff, and parents; and

(3) expanding the number of high-quality charter schools available to students across the Nation.

(Pub. L. 89–10, title X, §10301, as added Pub. L. 103–382, title I, §101, Oct. 20, 1994, 108 Stat. 3824 ; amended Pub. L. 105–278, §3(a), Oct. 22, 1998, 112 Stat. 2682 ; Pub. L. 106–554, §1(a)(1) [title III, §322(b)(1)], Dec. 21, 2000, 114 Stat. 2763 , 2763A-61.)

Amendments

2000-Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 106–554 substituted "subpart" for "part" in introductory provisions.

1998-Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 105–278, §3(a)(1)(A), inserted "planning, program" before "design".

Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 105–278, §3(a)(1)(B), (2), (3), added par. (3).