On Friday, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education announced the recipients of the FY 2022 Charter Schools Program (CSP). Given our significant concerns about the impact of the new CSP regulations on the application process and the unusually short timeframe for submission, we are pleased to see the Department awarded all available funds and the recipients will be able to immediately put these resources to work serving students.
In all, 25 entities were awarded grants totaling more than $221 million over the next three-five years. These grants will be used to open and replicate high-performing charter schools across the country, support charter schools’ access to facilities finance, and support the Department’s national priorities. As the demand for charter schools continues to grow, CSP grants provide critical funding to support these unique public schools as demand for these schools continues to rise in communities across the nation. The priority now will be to ensure charter schools that wish to apply to their states for these funds will be able to access them.
FY 2022 grant recipients are as follows:
State Entities: The Department awarded $143,172,904 to:
- Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
- Mississippi First, Inc.
- State Charter Schools Foundation of Georgia, Inc.
- Illinois Network of Charter Schools
- Tennessee Department of Education
- Northeast Charter Schools Network, Inc.
Charter School Developers: The Department awarded $7,103,394 to:
- Kulia Education Foundation (HI)
- Atlas Public School (MO)
- HOLLA School (OR)
- Helix Community Schools (LA)
- Lawndale Educational and Regional Network Charter School (IL)
- Excellence Community Schools (CT)
National Dissemination: The Department awarded $13,459,666 to:
- California Charter Authorizing Professional
- Green Dot Public Schools
- Institute for Excellence in Education
- Massachusetts Charter Public School Association
- Mundo Verde Bilingual Public Charter School
- National Alliance for Public Charter Schools
Credit Enhancement for Charter School Facilities Program: The Department awarded $57,735,176 to:
- Bluum Inc.
- Building Charters Fund, Inc.
- Charter Facility Solutions
- Charter Schools Development Corporation
- Enterprise Community Loan Fund, Inc.
- Hope Enterprise Corporation
- Nonprofit Finance Fund
Currently, roughly 7,700 charter schools serve more than 3.6 million public school students across 44 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico, and a growing number of families are demanding more. The Charter Schools Program is the nation’s only source of dedicated federal funding for the creation, expansion, and replication of charter schools. At its current funding level of $440 million, the Charter Schools Program accounts for less than 1% of federal spending on K-12 education but has a significant impact on the communities that charter schools serve.
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About the CSP Grants for State Entities: These grants enable states, charter support organizations, governors, and state authorizers to award sub-grants to eligible applicants in their state to open and prepare for the operation of new charter schools, and to replicate and expand high-quality charter schools.
About the CSP Grants for Charter School Developers: These grants provide funds to eligible applicants for the opening of new charter schools – early childhood, elementary, or secondary – and for the replication and growth of high-performing charter schools.
About the CSP Grants for National Dissemination: This program provides grants to support the work of eligible entities to improve the charter school sector and increase the number of high-quality charter schools through the dissemination of best practices. These CSP awards support a variety of organizations in their work to support charter schools across the country.
About the CSP Grants for Credit Enhancement for the Charter School Facilities Program: This program provides grants to eligible entities to enhance the credit of charter schools. Charter schools generally lack equitable access to taxpayer-funded facilities and have limited access to the funding streams available to school districts and often have to diversify classroom spending to support facility costs. These CSP awards support charter schools in accessing capital at lower interest rates to acquire, construct, and renovate facilities at a reasonable cost, which means they have more funds available to spend in the classroom, rather than on the classroom.