The U.S. Department of Education's Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and Improvement Doug Mesecar visited the Self Enhancement Inc., Academy in Portland, Ore., today to present a $9,500,000 Charter School Program grant award to the Oregon Department of Education. Susan Castillo, Oregon State Superintendent of Public Instruction, joined Mesecar for the announcement.

Oregon is one of five states receiving the competitive grants through the Department's Charter Schools Program (CSP), which supports states' efforts to plan, design, implement and disseminate information about charter schools. The other states receiving grants are New York, Florida, Utah and Idaho. The long-term objectives of Oregon's charter school program is to increase the number of high quality charter schools in Oregon that meet the needs of diverse learners and increase student achievement in meeting rigorous academic state standards.

"Supporting the growth of new, high quality charter schools is critical to our efforts to improve the educational opportunities for all children," Mesecar said. "Oregon has continued to demonstrate strong annual growth in the number of charter schools that school districts are authorizing."

These grants help states create more quality charter schools and increase school choices for parents and their children. State educational agencies with a specific statue authorizing charter schools may apply for funding. In awarding grants, the Department gives preference to states that have demonstrated progress in increasing the number of high-quality schools, that are held accountable for reaching clear and measurable objectives, and that give public charter schools a high degree of autonomy over budgets and expenditures.

Charter schools are independent public schools designed and operated by parents, educators, community leaders, education entrepreneurs and others with a contract, or charter, from a public agency, such as a local or state education agency or an institution of higher education. Charter schools are operated free-of-charge to parents and are open to all students. These schools provide parents enhanced educational choices within the public school system. Exempt from many statutory and regulatory requirements, charter schools receive increased flexibility in exchange for increased accountability for improving academic achievement. The first U.S. charter school opened in 1992. Today over 4,000 charter schools serve more than one million students in 40 states and Washington, D.C.

More information about the Public Charter Schools Program is available at http://www.ed.gov/programs/charter/index.html.

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