National Charter Schools Week, 2000

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Part IV

The President

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Proclamation 7297--National Charter Schools Week, 2000

Proclamation 7298--Law Day, U.S.A., 2000

Proclamation 7299--Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, 2000

Proclamation 7300--Loyalty Day, 2000

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Title 3--
The President

Proclamation 7297 of April 28, 2000

National Charter Schools Week, 2000

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Providing our children the high-quality education they
need to succeed is one of the greatest challenges we
face as a Nation, and helping communities establish
public charter schools is one of the best ways we can
meet that challenge.

Charter schools--public schools that are started by
parents, educators, and communities working in
partnership--are open to students of every background
and ability. They also afford greater autonomy and
flexibility in staffing decisions, curriculum design,
and other areas than traditional public schools do. In
return for this flexibility, charter schools must set
and meet the highest standards, and they can remain
open only as long as they do so.

These schools are helping us to meet many of our
Nation's most important education goals. They are
driving change in public schools across America by
showing the benefits of greater parent participation,
longer school years, higher academic standards, and
character education. Charter schools offer reform,
innovation, and increased choice in public education,
and, by doing so, they spur improvement throughout our
public school system.

I am proud that my Administration has taken a
leadership role in promoting and funding public charter
schools. When I took office almost 8 years ago, there
was only one charter school in our Nation. By September
of last year, that number had grown to more than 1,600
in 30 States and the District of Columbia, with more
than 250,000 students enrolled and many more on waiting
lists. Since 1994, the Federal Government has invested
almost $400 million in public charter schools. Last
August, I announced the release of almost $100 million
in Department of Education grants to develop, open, or
expand charter schools across the country. And my
proposed budget for fiscal year 2001 includes $175
million for the Department of Education's Public
Charter Schools Program. These grants and funds will
help cover the costs of opening new schools and help
existing charter schools hire more well-trained
teachers, buy more books, computers, and educational
software, and ensure that classrooms are safe and
accessible for all students. Finally, these funds will
aid charter schools as they develop accountability
systems to measure whether they are meeting or
exceeding State standards.

During National Charter Schools Week, I commend the
many dedicated parents, educators, students, and other
concerned citizens who, working together, have started
charter schools in their communities to meet the
growing demand for excellence, creativity, and choice
in education. Because of their vision and leadership,
charter schools across our Nation are helping to raise
standards, expectations, and accountability in all of
America's public schools. By investing in charter
schools, we are investing in our Nation's future.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United
States, do hereby proclaim May 1 through May 5, 2000,
as National Charter Schools Week. I encourage the
American people to mark this observance with
appropriate programs and activities that raise
awareness of the many contributions that public charter
schools make to the education of our children and the
success of our Nation.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twenty-eighth day of April, in the year of our Lord two
thousand, and of the Independence of the United States
of America the two hundred and twenty-fourth.