 CHAPTER 70--STRENGTHENING AND IMPROVEMENT OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY 
                                 SCHOOLS
 
             SUBCHAPTER X--PROGRAMS OF NATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE
 
                     Part C--Public Charter Schools
 
              subpart 1--basic charter school grant program
 
Sec. 8061. Findings and purpose


(a) Findings

    The Congress finds that--
        (1) enhancement of parent and student choices among public 
    schools can assist in promoting comprehensive educational reform and 
    give more students the opportunity to learn to challenging State 
    content standards and challenging State student performance 
    standards, if sufficiently diverse and high-quality choices, and 
    genuine opportunities to take advantage of such choices, are 
    available to all students;
        (2) useful examples of such choices can come from States and 
    communities that experiment with methods of offering teachers and 
    other educators, parents, and other members of the public the 
    opportunity to design and implement new public schools and to 
    transform existing public schools;
        (3) charter schools are a mechanism for testing a variety of 
    educational approaches and should, therefore, be exempted from 
    restrictive rules and regulations if the leadership of such schools 
    commits to attaining specific and ambitious educational results for 
    educationally disadvantaged students consistent with challenging 
    State content standards and challenging State student performance 
    standards for all students;
        (4) charter schools, as such schools have been implemented in a 
    few States, can embody the necessary mixture of enhanced choice, 
    exemption from restrictive regulations, and a focus on learning 
    gains;
        (5) charter schools, including charter schools that are schools-
    within-schools, can help reduce school size, which reduction can 
    have a significant effect on student achievement;
        (6) the Federal Government should test, evaluate, and 
    disseminate information on a variety of charter school models in 
    order to help demonstrate the benefits of this promising educational 
    reform; and
        (7) there is a strong documented need for cash-flow assistance 
    to charter schools that are starting up, because State and local 
    operating revenue streams are not immediately available.

(b) Purpose

    It is the purpose of this subpart to increase national understanding 
of the charter schools model by--
        (1) providing financial assistance for the planning, program 
    design and initial implementation of charter schools;
        (2) evaluating the effects of such schools, including the 
    effects on students, student achievement, staff, and parents; and
        (3) expanding the number of high-quality charter schools 
    available to students across the Nation.

(Pub. L. 89-10, title X, Sec. 10301, as added Pub. L. 103-382, title I, 
Sec. 101, Oct. 20, 1994, 108 Stat. 3824; amended Pub. L. 105-278, 
Sec. 3(a), Oct. 22, 1998, 112 Stat. 2682; Pub. L. 106-554, Sec. 1(a)(1) 
[title III, Sec. 322(b)(1)], Dec. 21, 2000, 114 Stat. 2763, 2763A-61.)


                               Amendments

    2000--Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 106-554 substituted ``subpart'' for 
``part'' in introductory provisions.
    1998--Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 105-278, Sec. 3(a)(1)(A), inserted 
``planning, program'' before ``design''.
    Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 105-278, Sec. 3(a)(1)(B), (2), (3), added 
par. (3).
