Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; Charter School Facilities National Questionnaire, 56224-56225 [2017-25597]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 227 (Tuesday, November 28, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56224-56225]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-25597]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket No.: ED-2017-ICCD-0144]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; 
Charter School Facilities National Questionnaire

AGENCY: Office of Innovation and Improvement (OII), Department of 
Education (ED).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, ED is 
proposing a revision of an existing information collection.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
January 29, 2018.

ADDRESSES: To access and review all the documents related to the 
information collection listed in this notice, please use https://www.regulations.gov by searching the Docket ID number ED-2017-ICCD-
0144. Comments submitted in response to this notice should be submitted 
electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at https://www.regulations.gov by selecting the Docket ID number or via postal 
mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery. Please note that comments 
submitted by fax or email and those submitted after the comment period 
will not be accepted. Written requests for information or comments 
submitted by postal mail or delivery should be addressed to the 
Director of the Information Collection Clearance Division, U.S. 
Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, LBJ, Room 216-32, 
Washington, DC 20202-4537.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For specific questions related to 
collection activities, please contact Sathya Soumya, 202-260-0819.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department of Education (ED), in 
accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 
3506(c)(2)(A)), provides the general public and Federal agencies with 
an opportunity to comment on proposed, revised, and continuing 
collections of information. This helps the Department assess the impact 
of its information collection requirements and minimize the public's 
reporting burden. It also helps the public understand the Department's 
information collection requirements and provide the requested data in 
the desired format. ED is soliciting comments on the proposed 
information collection request (ICR) that is described below. The 
Department of Education is especially interested in public comment 
addressing the following issues: (1) Is this collection necessary to 
the proper functions of the Department; (2) will this information be 
processed and used in a timely manner; (3) is the estimate of burden 
accurate; (4) how might the Department enhance the quality, utility, 
and clarity of the information to be collected; and (5) how might the 
Department minimize the burden of this collection on the respondents, 
including through the use of information technology. Please note that 
written comments received in response to this notice will be considered 
public records.
    Title of Collection: Charter School Facilities National 
Questionnaire.
    OMB Control Number: 1855-0024.
    Type of Review: A revision of an existing information collection.
    Respondents/Affected Public: State, Local, and Tribal Governments.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 200.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 300.
    Abstract: The Charter School Program needs reliable data to 
understand the current facilities landscape for charter schools. The 
Charter Schools Program, through the National Charter School Resource 
Center, administers a questionnaire conducted by the Colorado League of 
Charter Schools to gather data on charter schools facilities. This data 
helps to assess the true facilities challenges of the charter schools 
and what actions ED and the SEAs must take to better financially 
support the facilities needs of quality charter schools.
    This survey can incite positive change, increase the involvement of 
state legislature to mitigate the financial issues of charter schools 
to obtain equitable facilities, and ensure charter schools receive an 
amount for facilities that is more commensurate with the amount 
provided for traditional public schools. CSOs in participating states 
have reported that the survey results have provided the charter school 
facilities discussion in their states credibility regarding the 
problems facing charter schools and have resulted in legislative and 
other gains in their state towards charter school facility equity. CSOs 
have also reported that the results allow them to continue to push the 
facilities discussion forward for future changes. ED would like to 
continue to use and administer this survey in additional states and 
compile the data from all states into a facilities database. ED plans 
to conduct this survey in approximately three to four states per year, 
depending on the size of the state and local resources of the CSO to 
support the survey. This database will provide comprehensive 
information about the facilities for charter schools and the issues 
that charter school face in trying to obtain adequate facilities. The 
League will produce a report and an analysis summarizing the findings 
per state. The attached survey currently represents about 90% of the 
questions that will be asked to each state. The survey will be 
customized to include state-specific questions.

    Dated: November 21, 2017.
Stephanie Valentine,
Acting Director, Information Collection Clearance Division, Office of 
the Chief Privacy Officer, Office of Management.
[FR Doc. 2017-25597 Filed 11-27-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4000-01-P