U.S. Department of Education Awards First Round of 2020 Grants in Federal Charter Schools Program
Last Friday, the U.S. Department of Education announced $65 million in new grants as this year’s federal Charter Schools Program (CSP) competition gets underway. CSP awards are for one of several grant programs; grants awarded this week are for “Charter Management Organizations for the Replication and Expansion of High Quality Charter Schools.” Applications by states, for example, are being accepted until May 15 for the larger CSP State Entities Competition.
While the Department’s announcement declares that $65 million is being awarded to 13 Charter Management Organizations headquartered in Texas, California, Georgia, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Illinois, Florida, and Connecticut, Chalkbeat‘s Matt Barnum reports that these awards will eventually add up to more than $200 million over the five year life of the grants.
The $65 million figure, Barnum reports, includes only the part of each five-year grant that has already been appropriated by Congress, but the amount is expected by the Department to grow as Congress formally appropriates the money over the five year term of the grants. For example, while the Department’s announcement declares that the largest grant recipient, IDEA charter schools has been granted $8.1 million, Barnum reports instead that IDEA charters will receive $72 million over five years assuming that Congress continues to appropriate the funds.
After questions arose about the disparity between the Department’s numbers and Barnum’s report, Barnum answered on twitter: “Full details on the grants (Numbers seem different CONTINUE READING: U.S. Department of Education Awards First Round of 2020 Grants in Federal Charter Schools Program | janresseger
