"California charter schools got a $75 million boost Tuesday when U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige announced a three-year federal grant that aims to help create 250 charters by 2007. Paige praised California for being at the forefront of the charter-school movement. 'With this grant we recognize California's pioneering spirit,' he said. 'California was one of the first states to allow the creation of charter schools, and you're also one of the most welcoming states even now.'" - The Sacramento Bee (June 30, 2004)

"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger presented a check worth $25 million as the first of a three-part installment to fund the construction of new state charter schools. The money will also be used to enrich programs at current state charter schools, NBC 7/39 reported. Local charter school officials said the news is welcome."

"'The mission of charter schools is to elevate the performance of kids, and get better results through innovative ways and being released from rules and regulations to get that better performance,' said Douglas Smith (pictured, left), principal of Helix High, a charter school opened in 1998. 'Charter schools are all about making decisions at the site level -- decisions that are going to make the most sense to improve the performance of students -- as opposed to big districts where the decision-making is so far removed from the classroom level.'" - NBC 7/39 San Diego (June 29, 2004)