Press Release, U.S. Department of Education
June 22, 2004
http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2004/06/06222004.html The state of Maryland was recently awarded a multi-million dollar grant to develop high-quality charter schools, which present additional educational options for parents in the state.
The three-year grant is a component of the Federal government’s No Child Left Behind Act, which includes a program for the support of charter schools in ten states nationwide. Maryland will use the monies to distribute information about charter schools, with an eventual goal of establishing 30 charter schools by the 2006-07 academic year.
Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich, Jr. was recently presented a check by Deputy Secretary of Education Gene Hickok, for $3.8 million, which is amount of funding available to Maryland in the first year of the grant.
"When I signed my charter school initiative into law last year, I fulfilled a pledge to give parents more meaningful choices within Maryland's public school system," said Governor Ehrlich. "The Bush administration's grant will give Maryland parents the freedom to move their children into innovative learning environments."
Designed and run by parents, educators, community leaders, Charter schools are independent public schools designed to provide families more choices for education, as well as greater accountability for results.
Almost 3,000 new charter schools have been created since state legislatures began passing legislation in the 1990s. Since then 41 states and the District of Columbia have signed charter legislation into law.
