Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 108 Part 5.djvu/335

 PUBLIC LAW 103-382—OCT. 20, 1994 108 STAT. 3825 "(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 perfonnance 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 assistsince 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 part to increase national understanding of the chsirter schools model by— "(1) providing financial assistance for the design and initial implementation of charter schools; and "(2) evaluating the effects of such schools, including the effects on students, student achievement, staff, and parents. "SEC. 10302. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 20 USC 8062. "(a) IN GENERAL. — The Secretary may award grants to State educational agencies having applications approved pursuant to section 10303 to enable such agencies to conduct a charter school grant program in accordance with this part. "(b) SPECIAL RULE. —I f a State educational agency elects not to participate in the program authorized by this part or does not have an application approved under section 10303, the Secretary may award a grant to an eligible applicant that serves such State and has an application approved pursuant to section 10303(c). " (c) PROGRAM PERIODS.— "(1) GRANTS TO STATES.— Grants awarded to State educational agencies under this part shall be awarded for a period of not more than 3 years. "(2) GRANTS TO ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS. —Grants awarded by the Secretary to eligible applicants or subgrants awarded by

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