Alex Nester of the Washington Free Beacon reports on a new critique of the Biden administration from U.S. House Republicans.
A group of House Republicans is pushing the Biden administration to abandon a rule they say would kneecap charter schools by cutting them off from federal funds.
Rep. Chris Jacobs (R., N.Y.) and 21 other members of Congress last week in a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to protest the administration’s “burdensome” proposed rules. The proposed rules would cut federal funding to for-profit charter schools across the board and require new charter schools to prove their necessity by demonstrating “over-enrollment” in nearby public schools.
The representatives released the letter Monday to mark the beginning of National Charter Schools Week. The signatories say these rules would “harm students seeking learning options beyond the traditional public school system, which is beholden to teachers’ unions.”
“Charter schools provide a free, public education to families who choose to enroll in these schools,” the representatives said in their letter, a copy of which was obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. “Limiting the growth of these institutions will harm students seeking learning options beyond the traditional public school system, which is beholden to teachers’ unions rather than to parents and students.”
Democrats have long opposed charter schools, which they claim siphon resources from public schools. President Joe Biden promised to ban federal funding for for-profit charter schools while campaigning for office.
For-profit charter schools typically receive state and local funding and are eligible to apply for federal grants. The Department of Education’s proposed rules would attach a number of strings to federal grants. Charters would have to partner with public schools in order to obtain federal funds. The rules would also force grant applicants to define the “targeted” racial and socioeconomic demographics of their students and staff.
The Biden administration claims these changes will improve charter schools and hold them accountable for academic performance. But some education experts say the proposed rules would cripple charter schools by drying up one of their major funding sources.
