PSI Sci
New here? Follow the money and the votes · Not sure of your district? Find your U.S. House member · Find your state legislators

H.R. 2218: Empowering Parents through Quality Charter Schools Act

Before you vote › Federal bills

H.R. 2218: Empowering Parents through Quality Charter Schools Act

112th Congress · introduced 2011-06-16 · Education · Latest: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

  1. Where it came from: introduced 2011-06-16 · official record
  2. Who proposed it: Rep. Hunter, Duncan D. [R-CA-52] · what a sponsor is
  3. What happened next: 4 recorded votes in our records. Latest: House roll call 702 (2011): On Agreeing to the Amendment, HR2218 (2011-09-13), Failed. See all
  4. Where it stands now: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
  5. If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Empowering Parents through Quality Charter Schools Act

Plain summary

Empowering Parents through Quality Charter Schools Act - (Sec. 4) Revises subpart 1 (Charter School Programs) of part B (Public Charter Schools) of title V (Promoting Informed Parental Choice and Innovative Programs) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. (Sec. 5) Replaces the current charter school grant program with a program awarding grants to state entities (state educational agencies, state charter school boards, or Governors) and, through them, subgrants to charter school developers to open new charter schools and expand and replicate high-quality charter schools. Requires grantees to use 10% of the grant funds to provide technical assistance to subgrantees and authorized public chartering agencies, and work with those agencies to improve the charter school authorization process. Limits the duration of charter school grants and subgrants to no more than five years. Gives subgrantees no more than 18 months to plan and design their programs. Limits grantees to no more than one grant over a five-year period. Limits subgrantees to no more than one subgrant per charter school over a five-year period, unless the subgrantee demonstrates at least three years of improved educational results for students enrolled in the applicable charter school. Requires the Secretary of Education and each grantee to use a peer review process to review applications for charter school grants and subgrants. Requires grantees to award subgrants in a manner that ensures, to the extent possible, that subgrants are distributed to different areas and assist charter schools representing a variety of educational approaches. Permits the Secretary to waive certain statutory or regulatory requirements if the waiver is requested by a grant applicant and promotes the purpose of the Charter School program without tampering with what is definitionally required of charter schools. Favors grant applicants to the extent that they are from states that: (1) have a quality authorized public chartering agency that is not a local educational agency (LEA), if the state allows entities other than LEAs to be authorized public chartering agencies; (2) do not impose any limitation on the number or percentage of charter schools that may exist or the number or percentage of students that may attend charter schools; (3) ensure equitable financing, as compared to traditional public schools, for charter schools and students in a prompt manner; and (4) use charter schools and best practices from charter schools to help improve struggling schools and LEAs. Favors grant applicants also to the extent that they: (1) partner with an organization experienced in developing management organizations to support charter school development; (2) effectively support and monitor charter schools; (3) support charter schools that support at-risk students; and (4) authorize all their charter schools to serve as school food authorities. (Sec. 6) Subsumes subpart 2 (Credit Enhancement Initiatives to Assist Charter School Facility Acquisition, Construction, and Renovation) of part B of title V under subpart 1. (Under subpart 2 the Secretary awards grants to public entities and private nonprofit entities to demonstrate innovative means of enhancing credit to finance the acquisition, construction, or renovation of charter schools.) Requires the Secretary to award credit enhancement grants to applicants that have the highest-quality applications, after considering the diversity of such applications. (Currently, the Secretary is required to award at least three grants, including at least one to a public entity, one to a private nonprofit entity, and one to a consortium of such entities, provided an application from each merits approval.) Prohibits grant recipients from using more than 2.5% (currently, 0.25%) of their grant for administrative costs. Revises the per-pupil facilities aid program (under which the Secretary makes competitive matching grants to states to provide per-pupil financing to charter schools) to allow states to: (1) partner with organizations to provide up to 50% of the state share of funding for the program; and (2) receive more than one program grant, so long as the amount of the grant funds provided to charter schools increases with each successive grant. Allows states that are required by state law to provide charter schools with access to adequate facility space to qualify for a grant under the program even if they do not have a per-pupil facilities aid program for charter schools specified in state law, provided they agree to use the funds to develop such a program. (Sec. 7) Directs the Secretary to conduct national activities that include: (1) awarding competitive grants directly to charter school developers to open, replicate, and expand charter schools in states that have not applied for, have not received, or are nearing the end of, a grant for that purpose; (2) providing state entities with technical assistance in awarding subgrants to charter school developers; (3) providing technical assistance to grantees under the credit enhancement and per-pupil facilities aid programs; (4) disseminating best practices; and (5) evaluating the charter school program's impact, including its impact on student achievement. (Sec. 8) Requires states and LEAs to ensure that a student's records are transferred as quickly as possible to a charter school or another public school when the student transfers from one such school to the other. (Sec. 9) Allows charter schools to serve prekindergarten or postsecondary school students. (Sec. 10) Reauthorizes appropriations under subpart 1 through FY2017. Directs the Secretary to use: (1) 15% of such funding for credit enhancement grants and the per-pupil facilities aid program, (2) up to 5% of such funding for the Secretary's national activities, and (3) the remaining funds for the charter school grant program.

Congressional Research Service summary (Passed House amended), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Empowering Parents through Quality Charter Schools Act

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Passed House amended)

AI explanation – may be wrong, check the official text

No AI explanation yet. It takes up to a minute to write and is then saved for everyone.

Limited to a few requests an hour per person.

The strongest published arguments

Arguments for (supporters)

Needs sources: no published arguments on this side yet. We only show items backed by a published source. Suggest one.

Arguments against (opponents)

Needs sources: no published arguments on this side yet. We only show items backed by a published source. Suggest one.

Alternatives

Needs sources: no published alternatives yet (for example a different bill, a law instead of an amendment, or keeping current law). We only show items backed by a published source. Suggest one.

How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. Hunter, Duncan D. [R-CA-52] · 13 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Mike Kelly (R-PA), Scott DesJarlais (R-TN), Tim Walberg (R-MI)

Recorded votes

Words on this page, explained (4)
Appropriation
Money a legislature sets aside by law for a specific purpose. Government agencies may spend public money only as it has been appropriated.
Authorization
A law that creates or continues a government program and says what it may do, often with a suggested spending ceiling. An authorization alone does not provide money; a separate appropriation does.
Ballot initiative
A proposed law or constitutional amendment that citizens place on the ballot by gathering enough voter signatures, so voters decide it directly. About half the states allow some form of it.
Statute
A written law passed by a legislature. A statute can be changed by a later law; changing a constitution needs an amendment.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Record fed-us-cong112-hr2218 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong112 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong112