Report Focuses on Rethinking the Federal Role in Charter Schools

The number of charter schools has increased steadily in the last decade, and this reflects their popularity with parents and with the general public. As a result, the federal government's role in charter schools has recently expanded and may be an important element in the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. For that reason, the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution gathered a group of prominent policymakers, practitioners, and researchers to address what the federal government should do if its policy were to increase the number of effective charter schools in the nation.

This Task Group on Charter Schools recently released its report, Charter Schools: A Report on Rethinking the Federal Role in Education. In this report, the members of the task offered a number of recommendations for federal action, including:

• collecting and using more and better data on the performance of charter schools for purposes of authorizing, research, and informed parental choice;
• requiring states to provide equitable funding for charter schools relative to traditional public schools-including support for facilities;
• supporting higher standards for authorizing;
• revising rules and definitions that unintentionally disadvantage charter schools;
• promoting the growth as well as quality control of virtual charter schools; and
• articulating and following through on a coherent policy with respect to charter schools.

To access the complete report of the task force, please visit:

Brookings Institution: Charter Schools: A Report on Rethinking the Federal Role in Education (December 2010)