Thirty years ago, Congress created a radical new idea: fund initiatives for public schools that operated with more flexibility, community control, and strong accountability. Charter schools, once a single experiment in Minnesota, now serve 3.7 million students in over 8,000 schools nationwide.
That growth was made possible by the the Charter Schools Program, enacted in 1994 through the bipartisan Improving America’s Schools Act. Since then, the program has helped launch and expand thousands of charter schools in 42 states, Guam, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., giving parents more public education options for their children.
In many of these states, charter school students — particularly among underserved populations — are outperforming their traditional district peers in reading and math. In New York, for example, low-income, Hispanic and Black charter school students all outperform their district peers in reading by double digits.
In Texas, where I live, English language learners make up a higher percentage of the student population at charter schools than district schools, and they are outperforming their district peers at reading by 5.7 points. They are also more likely to complete rigorous Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, and dual credit courses and to enroll in college.
But today, the very program that once fueled innovation and student outcomes is slowing it down.
The Charter Schools Program has become too restrictive and complex to deliver on the promise of innovation and flexibility at the core of the charter school model. It’s time for Congress to reimagine how this program supports public school options by expanding support for school facilities, empowering experienced educators as they prepare a strong charter application, and cutting through the red tape stifling charter school growth.
Two bipartisan bills introduced in Congress this year offer a path forward: the Equitable Access to School Facilities Act and the Empower Charter School Educators to Lead Act.
The Equitable Access to School Facilities Act would give charter schools more flexibility in using federal aid for facilities — a huge hurdle for many schools. It won’t require any new funding, just better rules. This simple change to expand and improve aid programs for facilities would help many of the charters still operating in church basements and vacant storefronts move into buildings with gyms, science labs, and libraries — the kinds of spaces every student deserves.
The Empower Charter School Educators to Lead Act would solve a quieter but equally urgent problem: many great educators often don’t have the time or resources to launch a new school. This legislation would support the early planning stage, freeing up existing funds to provide grants to experienced educators while they work on their charter application, unlocking the potential for more teachers to create a real impact in their communities.
These are not sweeping overhauls to the CSP. They are targeted fixes to specific problems that have limited the growth and success of charter schools around the country. If we don’t make these changes now, we risk letting what was once a dynamic driver of educational innovation become just another federal program buried by bureaucracy.
As we celebrate National Charter Schools Week and reflect on three decades of progress through the Charter Schools Program, we must also act. We urge Congress to make these critical improvements to the and give educators the tools to lead. Let us ensure that charter schools continue to deliver on their promise of innovation and accountability. And let’s demand that the Charter School Program leads — not lags — in creating excellent public schools for all.
Starlee Coleman is president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.
