December 14, 2022
Dear Senators and Members of Congress,
Independent Women’s Voice, which fights to enhance people’s freedom, opportunities, and well-being, supports S.J. Res. 60 and H.J. Res. 94, Congressional Review Act (CRA) legislation introduced by Senator Tim Scott and Representative John Moolenaar nullifying the U.S. Department of Education’s proposed new rules for the Charter School Program (CSP).
The Charter School Program (CSP) was created to incentivize nonprofit organizations to launch a variety of charter schools that cater to the needs of their local communities. Sadly, the potential for our country’s charter school movement to grow would be destroyed by the new CSP rules. As the Education Freedom Center (EFC) detailed in a comment submitted earlier this year, “the proposed changes would create insurmountable bureaucratic hurdles for most applicants and deny CSP funding for lower-income communities. Perhaps by design, the delay in the application process caused by the proposed rules would deter potential grantees from applying for CSP grants this year and prevent the creation of new educational options for communities and families who are poorly served by the traditional public school system.”
While government-assigned public schools continue to abandon students, public charter schools frequently step in to fill the gaps. According to a Harvard University study, minority and lower-income students perform better in charter schools than in district public schools. Yet it is in the best interest of teachers unions to ignore this fact because it would mean giving up their government-sponsored control of schools. If they truly wanted to help underprivileged and minority students, they would be supportive of alternative options.
We cannot sit idly by while underserved students are deprived of educational opportunities. We thank Sen. Tim Scott and Rep. Moolenaar for taking a stand against this shameful anti-education freedom policy and urge all Members of Congress to support students over special interests.
Respectfully,
Virginia Gentles
Director
Education Freedom Center