Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, today I am introducing legislation designed to improve educational opportunities for struggling students. The All Students Achieving Through Reform Act, or All-STAR Act, would provide Federal resources to the most successful charter schools to help them grow and replicate.

Across the nation, public charter schools are achieving extraordinary results in low-income communities. I have been particularly impressed by the Noble Street schools in Chicago. Since opening its first campus in 1999, Noble Street has expanded to 10 charter high schools educating over 13,000 students in some of Chicago's most difficult neighborhoods. Noble Street has achieved phenomenal results. Even though more than 75 percent of students enter the schools below grade level, Noble students have the highest ACT scores among Chicago open-enrollment schools. Every year, more than 99 percent of Noble Street's seniors graduate and more than 85 percent go on to college. I see this success in action when I visit Noble Street schools. As soon as you walk in the door, you can tell that everyone in the building is focused on academic success. The students are actively engaged in their learning. Their teachers and principals are demanding and inspiring. Noble Street would like to continue to grow and educate more students in Chicago.

Not all charter schools are excellent. Poor-performing charter schools should be closed. But we also need to replicate and expand the ones that are beating the odds, and we need to learn from their lessons. We need more excellent charters, like the Noble Street schools, in Illinois and around the country.

The bill I am introducing today would help make that possible. Currently, Federal funding for charter schools can only be used to create new schools, not expand or replicate existing schools. My bill would create new grants within the existing charter school program to fund the expansion and replication of the most successful charter schools. Schools that have achieved results with their students will be able to apply for Federal grants to expand their schools to include additional grades or to replicate the model to a new school. Successful charters across the country will be able to grow, providing better educational opportunities to thousands of students.

The bill also incentivizes the adoption of strong charter school policies by states. We know that successful charter schools thrive when they have autonomy, freedom to grow, and strong accountability based on meeting performance targets. The bill would give grant priority to states that provide that environment. The bill also requires new levels of charter school authorizer reporting and accountability to ensure that good charter schools are able to succeed while bad charter schools are improved or shut down.

This bill will improve educational opportunities for students across the nation. Charter schools represent some of the brightest spots in urban education today, and successful models have the full support of the President and Secretary Duncan. We need to help these schools grow and bring their best lessons into our regular public schools so that all students can benefit. Supporting the growth of successful charter schools should be a part of the conversation when we take up reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. I thank Senator KIRK, Senator LANDRIEU, and Representative POLIS in the House for joining me in this effort.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the RECORD.

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