Today, House Education and Labor Committee Republican Leader Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Republican Leader Richard Burr (R-NC) issued the following statement in response to the Biden administration’s final charter school rule which will limit options for students and families:
“Union bosses have long held that charter schools are a threat to their dominance over the public school system, and it is disappointing to see Secretary Cardona bow to union pressure. Today’s rule, if allowed to go into effect, will end up limiting opportunities for students and families—quashing educational freedom. Charter schools offer students and families a lifeline to an education system that has suffered from systemic rot for decades thanks to unions. These new requirements put the needs of students and families in the rearview mirror.”
BACKGROUND: Today’s notice about the charter school priorities unveils requirements that will levy a significant—if not insurmountable—regulatory burden on charter school applicants and provide the Secretary of Education with much greater control over charter schools. Establishing the Department of Education as the gatekeeper to charter schools—which are community-oriented alternatives to traditional government-run schools—undermines the foundational principle of charter schools. That is why we saw strong, bipartisan concerns to these requirements when the proposal was first announced.
