The Colorado League of Charter Schools has received a five-year, $68 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Charter School Program (CSP), which will allow the nonprofit to significantly expand the charter footprint across Colorado.
The League will disburse up to 30 subgrants over the five years, to open new charters, expand existing schools, and replicate successful models. Under the federal program, the vast majority of funds go to schools through these subgrants.
Until this year, the federal charter school grant program has been run by the Colorado Department of Education. Mirroring an accelerating trend across the nation (see this report, written by Boardhawk editor Alan Gottlieb) CDE willingly ceded the program to the nonprofit charter support organization, which operates closer to the ground and should be able to disburse funds more efficiently and target them more effectively.
According to a League press release, subgrants will focus on two objectives:
- Increasing the number of high-quality charter schools and high-quality charter school seats in Colorado with an emphasis on how programs drive academic outcomes for educationally disadvantaged and at-risk students.
- Improving the quality of Colorado’s charter school sector and intensifying its impact on overall school quality and school improvement across the state.
““All Colorado children – regardless of zip code, race, income or ability – deserve access to high-quality, public school options that best meet their needs and provide opportunities to help them reach their full potential,” League President Dan Schaller said in the release. “Colorado’s charter schools are known for their innovation and flexibility in providing unique educational alternatives, and the Great Schools Colorado program will help ensure charter schools continue providing opportunities for all students – especially those who have been historically marginalized and systemically underserved.”
Charter schools do not receive per-pupil funding until they open and students enroll, so the CSP provides essential short-term funding to cover public charter school start-up costs. The CSP is the only source of dedicated federal funding for charter schools and represents less than 1% of total K-12 federal education funding.
The U.S. Department of Education estimates that more than one million students have access to high-quality public charter schools that would not have existed without the CSP.
