National Charter Schools Week, 2003

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Title 3--
The President

Proclamation 7666 of April 25, 2003

National Charter Schools Week, 2003

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Charter schools provide many children with a first-
class education, and they have gained national
recognition for their accountability standards,
innovative programs, and success with young people. The
high expectations they set and the opportunities for
development they create help students attending charter
schools realize their potential and achieve their
dreams.

Charter schools are held to the same standards,
including curriculum standards, as traditional schools,
and are also accountable to students, parents, and
community leaders for producing results and improving
achievement. By defining expected goals and offering
options for children trapped in low-performing schools,
charter schools help improve the overall quality of
education in America.

The success of charter schools is evident in the
achievements of the children who attend those schools
and in the positive response from the communities they
serve. In little more than a decade, 2,700 charter
schools have opened in 36 States and the District of
Columbia, and nearly two-thirds of these schools have
waiting lists. Forty States and the District of
Columbia have enacted charter school laws, and this
year four additional States began considering charter
school laws. To help State and local districts provide
parents with more quality education alternatives, I
have proposed increased funding for charter schools so
that more of our children can receive the gift of a
good education.

The accomplishments of charter schools prove that we
can improve our public education system by replacing
low expectations with a culture of achievement that
rewards success and does not tolerate failure. Over the
last 2 years, my Administration has taken steps to
realize this vision by supporting accountability for
results, expanded parental choice, increased local
flexibility, and a focus on what works. With the No
Child Left Behind Act of 2001, we continue to build a
stronger educational foundation for America's children.
States are now responsible for improving student
achievement in public schools by maintaining tough
academic standards and setting annual progress goals.
The law further requires regular testing to ensure all
students are proficient in reading and math and to help
identify learning problems.

My Administration is working to provide the resources
schools need to fund education reform and achieve these
high standards. We have increased funding for
elementary and secondary education by 36 percent in the
last 2 years, and the Federal Government will spend
nearly $24 billion on these programs this year. Through
the new Reading First program, over $500 million has
been distributed to 29 States to assist with reading
programs that help ensure that our children will know
how to read by the third grade. Expansions of our
charter schools, and reforms in traditional public
schools, are helping build the mind and character of
our future leaders.

During National Charter Schools Week, we renew our
commitment to our children and their education. I urge
every American to visit a charter school and learn
about its efforts to help children in their community.
Charter

schools are just one of many successful alternatives
that ensure that no child is left behind. By raising
expectations and fostering hope, we can help build a
future of promise for our next generation of Americans.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, 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 April 27 through May 3,
2003, as National Charter Schools Week. I commend the
States with charter schools, and I call on parents of
charter school children to share their success stories
with others so that all Americans may understand more
about the important work of charter schools.

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

(Presidential Sig.)B