The Honorable Mark Kirk
United States Senate
524 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC  20510

The Honorable Mary Landrieu
United States Senate
703 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC  20510

The Honorable Lamar Alexander
United States Senate
455 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC  20510

The Honorable Michael Bennet
United States Senate
458 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC  20510

Dear Senators Kirk, Landrieu, Alexander and Bennet:

On behalf of the more than 200 chief executive officers who are members of the Business Roundtable, I am writing in support of the Expanding Opportunity through Quality Charter Schools Act, which reauthorizes the federal Charter Schools Program under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).

Last year, the Business Roundtable released a report titled “Taking Action on Education and Workforce Preparedness.”  As part of this report, we recommended that federal, state, and local policymakers should increase the number of public school options, including charter schools, available to parents and students.  This bipartisan legislation takes an important step toward achieving this goal.

Our nation’s capacity to develop a skilled, prepared workforce is inextricably linked to the quality of our education system.  Innovations, such as charter schools, play a critical role in efforts to improve our education system and help more of our nation’s children access the educational opportunities they deserve.

We thank you for introducing this important legislation and look forward to working with you, your colleagues in the Senate and House of Representatives, and the Administration to ensure charter schools legislation is enacted into law as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

John Engler