Final Rulings For Charter School Regulations Less Strict Than Originally Proposed
The final cut of charter school rules proposed by the Biden Administration were less strict than originally thought.
Character schools must adhere to new rules, thanks to the Biden Administrations’ updated regulations, but they are less strict than the originally proposed plan that was released in March. The new charter school rules make it more difficult for these alternative education options to expand, but dropped regulations that required each school to conduct a community impact analysis mainly focused on recent political pushes to drive “equity” movements further into the school system. In addition, schools will not be forced to meet race quotas being that many charter schools cater to minorities in diverse areas.
When the original plans were unveiled back in the spring, many charter school advocates banned together to oppose restrictive new regulations. Minority groups worked to remind the Department of Education that these options often serve underprivileged students and that stunting their community growth would further harm education relations. Some 26,553 comments were made on the charter school rules, which led to the less strict charter school rules.
The new charter school rules do insist that a need for alternative education options must be presented in order for an institute to receive government funding, as some 14.5% of charter schools funded through the government never fully opened or closed before their enrollment period expired. Whether the Department of Education has plans to evaluate how many publicly funded public schools have closed or not opened despite receiving federal grant money is unknown, but for now, charter school advocates are celebrating the reduced regulations and looking forward to the next school year. During the 2019-2020, school year charter schools served 3.5 million students throughout 7,700 campuses. That’s about 7.2% of public school children.
There are many reasons families have been upset over the proposed charter school rules. During the pandemic and after excessive lockdown measures, which exacerbated youth mental health issues, many families have fled the public education system in search of alternatives. While it is unknown how many families have chosen to switch to charter schools during the past two school years, enrollment in traditional public schools has plummeted and a teacher shortage is affecting districts’ ability to properly serve students. In 2021 about 1.4 million children left public schools for private and charter school options.
Parents and children are tired of facing unprepared, overfunded schools that produce failures. Progressive policies have flooded the public education system. From race-based enrollment, discipline, and even grading procedures, to an emphasis on LGBTQ studies and teaching young students about sexuality, the education system is offering more division, confusion, and unscientific information than ever, while alternative options are often more focused on factual core classes like science, math, and English. This is why the proposed charter school rules meant so much to charter school families. Those who fled the crumbling public education system did so to avoid identity politics and studies that offer little to no skill sets.
Now that the new charter school rules are being celebrated, the 2022-2023 school year is looking brighter to families utilizing alternative education methods. Whether The Biden Administration, The Department of Education, teachers’ unions, or school boards listen to parents or not, children have the ability to seek the schools best suited for their needs. That is something that many people support.
