Month: January 2019

public school facilitiesCharter School Students Deserve Access to Quality Public School Facilities

Editor’s Note: This post was originally written by Nina Rees on October 18, 2018. Nina Rees is the president and chief executive officer of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools and former deputy assistant for domestic policy to Vice President Dick Cheney. Follow her on Twitter @Ninacharters.
Though charter schools are public schools, supported by state and local tax dollars, they don’t usually have the same access to public school buildings, let alone funding for new facilities. Unfortunately, even when district-owned buildings are underused or completely abandoned, districts don’t like to give, sell, or lease them to charter schools, which are viewed by much of the educational establishment as their competitors.
Read on to learn about some potential solutions to this issue and what can be done to ensure that all students, both from traditional public district-run schools and public charter schools have access to school facilities that provide optimal learning environments for our nation’s children.
We think it’s vital to keep tabs on the pulse of all things related to charter schools, including informational resources, and how to support charter school growth and the advancement of the charter school movement as a whole. We hope you find this—and any other article we curate—both interesting and valuable.

Public school buildings belong to public school students — including charter students

As children conclude their first weeks of school across America, how do you envision their school buildings? The traditional brick-front building with big windows and rows of tidy desks? A more modern structure with laptops at workstations and a dual-use gym and theater?
How about an abandoned big box store in a strip mall?
For charter school students in many states, this last option is too familiar. Even though charter schools are public schools, supported by state and local tax dollars, they don’t usually have the same access to public school buildings, let alone funding for new facilities. As a result, they must dip into funds that would otherwise be used for instruction to pay for rents or mortgages. While charter schools are safe havens for learning, they don’t always have the amenities that one would typically associate with a school. Gyms, libraries, even cafeterias aren’t guaranteed for charter school students, because the schools are often located in buildings that were never designed to educate children.
Many students in district-run schools are learning in outdated spaces. But unlike most charter schools, district-run schools have free access to public buildings, and public financing options are more easily available to them. They get direct support from their state or community, or they can issue bonds that offer tax advantages to buyers, while taxpayers foot the bill for the added debt. Additionally, school districts usually maintain large inventories of school buildings that can be renovated to accommodate growing school enrollments. Charter schools rarely have these options.
Adding to the challenge is that school districts tend to be parsimonious with their own buildings. Even when district-owned buildings are underused or completely abandoned, districts don’t like to give, sell, or lease them to charter schools, which are viewed by much of the educational establishment as competitors. The anti-charter behavior can get so extreme that some school districts have not only refused to sell or rent school buildings to charter schools, but they’ve also attached legal riders that prevent private buyers from selling or renting their buildings to charter schools. Better to convert those old classrooms into condos than to allow a growing, high-demand charter school to teach students in them.
Some states, however, are rising to the challenge and giving charter schools a fair shake. Nine states include charter schools in district capital planning and bond issuance. However, existing efforts don’t even come close to meeting the estimated $375 million in additional funding needed annually to meet the facilities needs resulting from increased parental demand for charter schools.
With the need so great, state governments, the federal government, and private investors can all be part of the solution.
Every state should give charter schools the first right to unused district facilities. Public school buildings no longer needed by a school district should be used by other public schools — i.e. charter schools — if those schools need the space. Opposition to that is simply unjustifiable.
States could also provide facilities funding to charter schools in the form of a per-pupil facilities allowance, establishing a state grant program for charter school facilities, and requiring that charter schools be included in school district bonding and mill levy requests.
The federal government can help, too. Several federal programs exist to help charter schools access facilities, but funding is limited both numerically and geographically. Other programs require technical financial expertise that may be beyond the reach of local school founders. Many current programs are inaccessible to all but the largest charter school networks.
Support for charter schools is a rare issue that President Trump and congressional leaders of both parties agree on. The federal government can use public funding to incentivize better state policies, or private investment — for instance, by enabling the sale of charter school infrastructure bonds and notes to investors in the capital markets, in the same way, that other tax-advantaged bonds and notes are sold. The newly enacted Opportunity Zone tax incentives may provide help for charter schools that open facilities in the most economically distressed parts of the country, but it depends on investors willing to create funds that will invest in charter schools.
There are many possible solutions to the charter school facilities funding challenge, but action is needed now. Millions of parents want to choose their child’s school but can’t because a lack of facilities funding limits charters’ growth. And too many charter school students and teachers are making the best of inadequate facilities that lack essential school features. With smart investments now, policymakers can help more students start future school years in buildings designed for learning.


The Ultimate Guide to Charter School Facility Financing:
Thinking about a new facility for your charter school or enhancing your current one? This guide shares straightforward and actionable advice on facilities planning, financing options, getting approved, choosing a partner, and much more! Download it here.

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Charter schools face unique financial challenges due to irregular state funding cycles and limited access to traditional financing. Receivable sales offer a specialized financing solution that helps schools manage cash flow while maintaining focus on educational excellence.
The Charter School Cash Flow Challenge

Charter schools typically receive the majority of their funding from state aid payments distributed on predetermined schedules that may not align with operational expenses. This timing mismatch creates cash flow challenges that can impact:

Operational Stability:

  • Payroll and benefits for faculty and staff
  • Facility costs including rent and utilities
  • Educational materials and technology needs
  • Program implementation and expansion costs

Growth Opportunities:

  • Enrollment expansion initiatives
  • New program development
  • Facility improvements or relocations
  • Staff hiring and professional development
What Are Receivable Sales?
Basic Transaction Structure

In a receivable sales transaction, a charter school sells its future state aid payments to a financing company in exchange for immediate funding. This provides schools with working capital before their scheduled state payment dates.

Receivable Sales Are Beneficial To Charter Schools (2)

Key Transaction Elements:

  • School sells confirmed state aid receivables
  • Financing company provides immediate funding
  • State payments flow directly to the financing company
  • School receives cash flow relief and operational flexibility
How Receivable Sales Work

Transaction Process:

  1. Charter school identifies upcoming state aid payments
  2. School and financing company execute purchase agreement
  3. School receives agreed-upon funding amount
  4. State distributes payments to financing company on schedule
  5. Transaction completes when state payment is received

Risk Management: The financing company assumes timing risk if state payments are delayed, protecting schools from state funding disruptions or administrative delays.

Calculating Available Funding
Eligible Receivables

Attendance-Based Entitlements: Primary funding calculated on student enrollment and attendance data, representing the largest component of most charter school budgets.

Federal and State Grants: Confirmed grant awards with established payment schedules, including Title I, IDEA, and other educational program funding.

Special Program Funding: Additional state aid for specific populations or programs, such as English language learners or special education services.

Funding Determination Factors

Amount Calculations: Available funding typically represents a percentage of confirmed receivables, calculated based on the school’s financial profile and the specific receivables being sold.

Timeline Considerations: Funding amounts may vary based on the time between funding and expected state payment dates, with shorter timeframes generally offering more favorable terms.

Benefits of Receivable Sales for Charter Schools
Operational Advantages

Cash Flow Management:

  • Eliminates gaps between expenses and state funding receipts
  • Provides predictable cash flow for budget planning
  • Reduces financial stress during state payment delays
  • Enables consistent payroll and vendor payments

Growth Support:

  • Funds enrollment expansion initiatives before state funding increases
  • Supports facility improvements and program development
  • Enables strategic hiring and professional development
  • Provides capital for educational technology and materials
Receivable Sales Are Beneficial To Charter Schools
Financial Flexibility

Adjustable Funding Levels: Schools can sell receivables based on specific cash flow needs rather than fixed loan amounts, providing customized financing solutions.

Simple Qualification: Receivable sales focus on confirmed state payments rather than complex creditworthiness assessments, making this option accessible to most charter schools.

No Long-Term Debt: Unlike traditional loans, receivable sales don’t create ongoing debt obligations or impact the school’s borrowing capacity for future needs.

Understanding Costs and Terms
Transaction Costs

Program Fees: Fixed administrative costs for processing the receivable sale transaction, typically charged once per transaction regardless of amount.

Discount Rates: The primary cost of selling receivables, calculated as a percentage of the receivable amount and influenced by several factors.

Factors Affecting Pricing

Receivable Type: Different types of state payments carry varying risk profiles, affecting discount rates.

Outstanding Period: The time between funding and expected state payment impacts pricing, with longer periods typically resulting in higher discounts.

School Financial Profile: The charter school’s operational stability and payment history may influence terms and availability.

Strategic Considerations for Charter Schools
When Receivable Sales Make Sense

Ideal Use Cases:

  • Managing seasonal cash flow variations
  • Funding time-sensitive growth opportunities
  • Bridging gaps during state payment delays
  • Supporting operational stability during transitions

Timing Considerations:

  • Early in fiscal year when state payments are confirmed but not yet received
  • During enrollment growth periods requiring immediate investment
  • When facing unexpected expenses or opportunities
  • As part of comprehensive cash management strategy
Alternatives to Consider

Traditional Financing Options:

  • Bank lines of credit for schools with established credit
  • Equipment financing for technology and furniture needs
  • Facility financing for building purchases or improvements
  • Grant funding for specific programs or initiatives

Operational Solutions:

  • Improved budget forecasting and cash management
  • Diversified revenue streams through fundraising
  • Cost management and expense timing optimization
  • Building cash reserves during surplus periods
Implementation Best Practices
Due Diligence Process

Financial Assessment:

  • Review current cash flow patterns and projections
  • Analyze upcoming state payment schedules
  • Evaluate total cost compared to alternatives
  • Consider impact on overall financial strategy

Documentation Requirements:

  • Confirmed state aid calculations and payment schedules
  • Current financial statements and cash flow projections
  • Board approval for significant financing decisions
  • Legal review of transaction documents
Integration with Financial Planning

Cash Management Strategy: Receivable sales work best as part of comprehensive financial planning that includes budget forecasting, expense management, and long-term strategic planning.

Performance Monitoring: Track the impact of receivable sales on cash flow stability, operational flexibility, and educational program funding to assess ongoing value.

Making Informed Financing Decisions

Receivable sales can provide valuable cash flow solutions for charter schools facing timing mismatches between expenses and state funding. Success depends on understanding the total costs, appropriate use cases, and integration with broader financial management strategies.

Schools considering receivable sales should evaluate their specific cash flow needs, compare costs with alternative funding sources, and ensure that any financing decision supports their primary mission of educational excellence.

The key is matching financing tools to operational needs while maintaining focus on sustainable financial management that supports long-term educational success.

 

Charter schools serve diverse communities where immigration concerns can significantly impact student attendance and academic performance. Understanding these challenges helps ensure all students can access quality education regardless of their family’s immigration status.

The Impact on Student Attendance

Research shows concerning patterns of how immigration enforcement affects school communities. From 2019:

  • Las Cruces, New Mexico saw a 60% spike in student absences following an immigration raid
  • Hamblen County, Tennessee experienced 20% of Hispanic students missing school after workplace enforcement
  • Seven percent of U.S. children are born to parents without legal immigration status

These impacts extend beyond attendance to include decreased family engagement, academic performance decline, and increased need for counseling services.

Creating Supportive School Policies
Safe Learning Environment Strategies

Policy Considerations:

  • Limit collection of unnecessary immigration-related information
  • Establish clear protocols for handling immigration enforcement requests
  • Train staff on supporting students experiencing family stress
  • Create welcoming environments that encourage family engagement

Communication Approaches:

  • Provide multilingual resources and translation services
  • Offer cultural competency training for staff
  • Use community liaisons who understand local immigrant communities
  • Clearly communicate the school’s commitment to serving all students
Supporting Academic Continuity

Student Support Services:

  • Enhanced counseling for students experiencing family stress
  • Flexible attendance policies accounting for family circumstances
  • Academic intervention programs to address learning gaps
  • Mentorship programs connecting students with supportive adults

Family Engagement:

  • Alternative communication methods that respect privacy concerns
  • Community partnerships with trusted local organizations
  • Flexible meeting times and locations for parent engagement
  • Educational workshops providing valuable information to families
Building Community Partnerships

Partner with local organizations serving immigrant families to:

  • Access legal resources and immigration support services
  • Provide cultural competency training and community insights
  • Secure additional funding for student support programs
  • Build trust within immigrant communities
Us Immigration Policies And Deportation Affecting Student Attendance
Understanding Educational Rights

The Supreme Court’s Plyler v. Doe decision ensures all children, regardless of immigration status, have the right to public education through grade 12. Schools should also support DACA-eligible students with college and career counseling that addresses their unique circumstances.

Creating Inclusive Communities

Charter schools that successfully support students affected by immigration concerns focus on creating environments where education is treated as a fundamental right, schools serve as safe havens for learning, and family engagement respects diverse circumstances.

By implementing thoughtful policies, providing comprehensive support services, and building strong community partnerships, charter schools ensure that immigration concerns don’t become barriers to educational success.

charter school growthCharter School Growth Manual: Expert Tips and Pitfalls to Avoid as You Grow

At Charter School Capital, we believe in the power of charter schools and their leaders to deliver quality education and foster success in their students. Over the past 10+ years, we have partnered with hundreds of charter schools to help them access the capital they’ve needed to achieve financial and operational stability.
Along the way, we’ve had the privilege to learn from charter school leaders and educators about what works and what doesn’t—and we’ve come to see that the hurdles they face tend to be remarkably consistent.
Although charter schools are champions of educational diversity, they typically face similar sets of challenges and encounter the same potential pitfalls, regardless of their focus, location, or population.
For this guide, we turned to our wide network of charter school experts for best practices and strategies for success at every stage of maturity. All of the advice in this book comes from experienced charter school leaders who have been where you are now—they understand what you’re facing and the pitfalls to avoid. We hope the growth strategies here include useful tips for you and your team on developing a strong charter, building culture and community support, and boosting your financing and facilities practices to support your growth.
For each of the three key stages (start-up stage, growth stage, and sustainable maturity stage) you’ll learn:

  • Challenges & How to Conquer
  • Them Pitfalls to Avoid
  • Start-up Tips from Experienced Charter School Leaders

 

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The Charter School Growth Manual: Expert tips and Pitfalls to Avoid as You Grow
Whether you’re just beginning the process of starting up a charter school, looking to expand or trying to prioritize your next steps, download this guide to get expert tips and pitfalls to avoid as you grow.
For this charter school resource guide, we turned to our wide network of charter school experts for best practices and strategies for success at every stage of maturity. All of the advice in this book comes from experienced charter school leaders who have been where you are now—they understand what you’re facing and the pitfalls to avoid.

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charter-like schools9 Tips For How To Create More Successful Charter-Like Schools In Urban Districts

Editor’s Note: This article from The74, was originally published here on September 19, 2018 and was written by David Osborne and Emily Langhorne. David directs the Progressive Policy Institute’s education work and is the author of Reinventing America’s Schools: Creating a 21st Century Education System. Emily Langhorne, a former English teacher, is an education policy analyst and project manager with the Progressive Policy Institute.
This article highlights how, over the past 15 years, the fastest improvement in urban public education has come from cities that have embraced the key tenants that have led to charter schools’ success — autonomy, choice, diversity of school designs, and real accountability for performance. In order to compete, many districts have recently tried to spur charter-like innovation and increase student achievement by granting their school leaders more autonomy.
Interestingly, studies in Boston, Memphis, Denver, and Los Angeles showed that public charter schools outperformed both traditional public and in-district autonomous schools on standardized tests in three of the four cities studied. But getting a charter isn’t always an easy road in today’s political landscape. In this case, in-district autonomous models may be the second-best option. Learn how districts can increase the success of these schools if they take guidance from these nine lessons learned from districts already embracing this new charter-like model.

Osborne & Langhorne: Where Politics Make Charters Difficult, 9 Tips for How Urban Districts Can Create Charter-like Schools — and Improve Their Success

charter-like schoolsOver the past 15 years, the fastest improvement in urban public education has come from cities that have embraced charter schools’ formula for success — autonomy, choice, diversity of school designs, and real accountability for performance. To compete, many districts have recently tried to create charter-like schools to spur innovation and increase student achievement by granting their school leaders more autonomy.
District-run autonomous schools are a hybrid model, a halfway point between charters and traditional public schools. They’re operated by district employees, but they can opt out of many district policies and — in some cities — union contracts.
Our recent analysis of state exam scores from 2015 and 2016 in Boston, Memphis, Denver, and Los Angeles showed that public charter schools outperformed both traditional public and in-district autonomous schools on standardized tests in three of the four cities studied. In the one exception, Memphis, the district concentrated its best principals and teachers in, and provided extra funding and support to, its autonomous iZone schools.
However, when the political landscape makes chartering difficult, in-district autonomous models may be the second-best option. Districts can increase the success of these schools if they heed these nine lessons learned by the four cities in our study.

1. Protect unrestricted autonomy

When autonomy is limited, so is principals’ ability to meet students’ needs. Districts need to give these schools unrestricted staffing and budgeting authority.
Staffing autonomy allows school leaders to hire effective staff who believe in their school’s vision and to evaluate staff based not only on performance but also on cultural fit. Forced placement of teachers not only harms student learning; it can also undermine a school’s culture. As one autonomous school principal in Los Angeles said, sometimes a principal needs to “lose a teacher and save a school.”
Budgeting autonomy enables principals to hire staff according to their schools’ unique needs — for example, bringing on additional guidance counselors rather than a dean. Leaders who control their own budgets can fund hands-on learning, purchase tablets for blended learning, hire a full-time substitute teacher, or employ any of a hundred other innovations.

2. Create a district office or independent board to support and protect autonomous schools

Autonomous school leaders spend a significant amount of time fighting to exercise the autonomies they have been promised. Sometimes, they get so frustrated, they leave. Districts with autonomous schools should create a central unit dedicated to supporting them, defending their autonomy and advocating on their behalf when disputes arise.
An alternative is to create a 501(c)3 nonprofit board, as Denver has. These boards are appointed, not elected, so they are free to make decisions that benefit students and schools without fear of political backlash. The boards oversee school progress, provide financial oversight, select school leaders and evaluate their performance, and protect them from district micromanagement.

3. Articulate a district-wide theory of action and secure buy-in from central office staff

Changing the mindset of the central office requires a huge cultural shift. Autonomous schools necessitate that many parts of the central office do things differently, so employees need to believe in the connection between school autonomy and student success, rather than seeing autonomous schools as an inconvenience and/or a challenge to centralized authority. District leaders need to openly discuss why they believe school autonomy will produce better performance, share this information publicly with school leaders, central office employees, teachers, and the community — and constantly reinforce the message.

4. Turn some central services into public enterprises that must compete with other providers for schools’ business

The fastest way to change the mindset of central office staff who provide services to schools — such as professional development, food, maintenance, and security — is to take away their monopoly. When internal service shops have to sink or swim in a competitive market, they almost always swim, because they are much closer to their customers than private competitors are. But, in the process, they increase their quality and reduce their costs.

RELATED
Five Reasons Independent Charters Outperform In-District Hybrid Schools

5. Authorize district-run autonomous schools like charter schools

Rigorous authorization has been essential to the success of strong charter sectors. Districts should use similar processes to authorize their own autonomous schools — allowing only the most promising applicants to open schools and removing those that prove ineffective. A careful authorization process weeds out weak proposals at the beginning reviews performance along the way and replaces schools that fail with stronger operators.

6. Ensure continuous improvement by using a clear system of accountability to close and/or replace failing schools

A common shortcoming among districts with autonomous school models is their failure to impose consequences that create real urgency among teachers and principals — closing and replacing failing schools. Every district should implement a performance framework that requires schools to show academic growth. If they fail, the district should provide additional supports during a probationary period but replace them if they still don’t meet targets. If a school is successful, the district should provide resources and incentives to encourage it to open another campus, as Denver does with its Innovation Schools.

7. Invest in developing autonomous school leaders

Giving schools autonomy does nothing to help student achievement if school leaders follow district procedures rather than looking for ways to be innovative. Districts need to invest in developing school leaders so they can take advantage of their freedoms. Careful selection of and support for principals has been a large part of the Memphis iZone’s success. Novice principals there are placed in partnerships with experienced principals, meeting over the summer and throughout the year to collaborate on strategies for leveraging autonomy to achieve results.

8. When possible, give families a choice of autonomous schools

Families and students who can choose their school tend to show more commitment than children who are assigned to one. Choice empowers them, and people who feel empowered are more likely to give their best efforts. In addition, systems of choice allow for the creation of schools with a variety of learning models, so students can select a school with the culture and curriculum that best fit their needs.

9. Explore district-run autonomous models from other cities

By examining a variety of successful strategies, districts can find and adapt the model that best fits their political climate and meets the needs of their community.
In addition to the four cities we studied, Springfield, Massachusetts, and Indianapolis, Indiana, have launched interesting in-district autonomy strategies.
The Springfield Empowerment Zone Partnership, created as an alternative to a state takeover of several schools, contains nine struggling middle schools and one high school that have been given significant autonomy, overseen by a seven-member board of four state-appointed officials and three locally appointed members. The teachers union negotiated a new contract that includes longer hours, increased pay, and some compensation based on performance.
Indianapolis’s Innovation Network Schools, which start with full charter-like autonomy rather than with waivers from district rules, are the fastest-improving in the district. They have the same exemption from laws, regulations, and contract provisions as charters, and while the schools operate in district buildings, the principals and teachers are employed by the nonprofit corporation that operates the school. Each school’s board hires and fires the principal, sets the budget and pay scale, and chooses the school design. The nonprofits have five- to seven-year performance contracts with the district. If schools fail to fulfill the terms of their contracts, the district can refuse to renew them; otherwise, the district cannot interfere with their autonomy.
By following the recommendations above, districts can create self-renewing systems in which every school has the incentives and autonomy to continuously innovate and improve. At the same time, they can offer a variety of school models to families, to meet a variety of children’s needs.
Whether school boards will have the courage to close failing autonomous schools full of unionized district employees will always be a question. The long-term sustainability of in-district autonomy after the leaders who championed it have left is another Achilles’ heel. But if done well and sustained, such schools have the potential to improve public education in urban America

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National School Choice WeekNational School Choice Week is Only One Week Away!

National School Choice Week (NSCW) is coming January 20-26th, and we want to make sure you’re up-to-date on all the cool happenings so you don’t miss a thing!  

What is National School Choice Week?

Not familiar with NSCW? This inspiring week recognizes all K-12 options, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, public magnet schools, private schools, online academies, and homeschooling. It’s the world’s largest annual celebration of opportunities in education that includes over 10,000 independent events. It’s a nonpartisan, non-political, independent public awareness effort that’s not associated with any legislative lobbying or advocacy efforts.
Every child deserves a bright future. Having school choice simply means that parents are empowered to select the best possible educational experience and learning environment for their unique child’s individual needs—helping them thrive!

Join the Conversation!

Make sure to join the conversation all next week with Charter School Capital, as we share stories and quotes about school choice on Facebook, Twitter, and on LinkedIn. Follow all the school choice week festivities, events, and conversation using the #schoolchoice and #SCW hashtags.

Learn More

There are so many events going on across the country next week, that we can’t list them all here; but if you’re interested in finding a National School Choice Week activity in your area check out this state-by-state map to see what’s happening near you! We’d also love to hear what you’re doing to celebrate the week. Leave us a comment below.
Have a great #schoolchoice week!

 

California Charter School LegislationCalifornia Legislative Update: The Governor’s 2019 Budget

California Legislative Update: Thursday, Governor Gavin Newsom released the first budget of his administration. At the beginning of his press conference, he admitted that his presentation would be longer than most other Governor’s performances—and he did not disappoint, holding court for around 50 minutes. His budget includes a large reserve and lays out what will be the administration’s objectives over the next three years. It also includes a brief discussion of the need for charter school transparency, which he mentioned in his presentation. Below is an excellent description of the budget’s details by Gerry Shelton of Capitol Advisors. Gerry is an expert on California’s education laws and one of the most knowledgeable people that I know.

We’ve done a review and analysis of Governor Gavin Newsom’s 2019-20 Budget Proposal sent to you earlier today. While the proposed budget essentially includes the same amount of Proposition 98 spending as estimated by the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) in November, there is some very good news in the budget for schools. Governor Newsom is providing significant assistance to school employers struggling with increases in the pension contribution rates. This assistance is outside of Proposition 98, so does not reduce expenditures for other priorities, including providing a 3.46% cost of living adjustment (COLA) for LCFF and other programs.

Highlights of 2019-20 Budget Proposal

  • $143 billion in General Fund (GF) revenues in 2019-20
  • $18.5 billion total state budget reserves ($15.3 billion in the Rainy Day Fund)$80.7 billion Prop 98 guarantee
  • $3 billion one-time (non-Prop 98) payment for school employer CalSTRS liabilities
  • 3.46% COLA applied to LCFF and categoricals
  • Over $1 billion increased investment in early childhood services (details below)
  • $576 million in Prop 98 GF ($186 million of which is one-time) for expanded special education services and support
  • $1.5 billion in additional released school facilities bond funds authorized under Prop 51

Governor Newsom’s Approach

At his press conference earlier today, Governor Newsom repeatedly recognized former Governor Jerry Brown’s efforts to eliminate budget deficits, create a new budget surplus, and build a Rainy Day Fund to mitigate future economic downturns. He provided a more collaborative tone than Brown, giving credit to individual legislators who championed various issues (such as early learning, health care, pension costs, housing, etc.) that he highlighted in his press conference. Overall, Newsom was focused on finding the right balance between continued fiscal responsibility and increased investments in programs.
With respect to fiscal responsibility, Newsom slightly lowered revenue projections for future years, prioritized paying off debts and decreasing liabilities, increased reserves and provided additional “Safety Net” funding. The Governor also highlighted several areas in which he hopes to see significant investments, including a $1 billion investment in a rebranded Earned Income Tax Credit (now the “Working Family Tax Credit”), subsidies to ensure middle-class Californians can afford health insurance, emergency and disaster preparedness and response, and of course, K-14 education.
Below we provide a brief summary and analysis of the budget proposal, including revenues, Proposition 98 spending, and policy and funding changes to K-12 programs.

Revenues, General Fund, Debts and Liabilities, and Budget Reserves

Due to continued growth in California’s economy, the Department of Finance (DOF) estimates approximately $143 billion in total 2019-20 GF revenues (including transfers pursuant to Prop 2), and has revised its estimates upward for 2017-18 by $3 billion and for 2018-19 by $2.7 billion. Before transfers, this amounts to an $8.1 billion increase in GF revenues over the three fiscal years, as compared to the 2018 Budget Act. In addition to allowing an increase in state GF spending, this significant influx of revenue generates additional 2019-20 Prop 2 transfers to the Rainy Day Fund budget reserve, and an equivalent amount to pay down state debts and liabilities.
Though this budget is based on the assumption of continued economic growth, it does note that economic uncertainties, and even the likelihood of a future economic downturn, have been increasing. As a result, Governor Newsom proposes a $700 million increase to the Safety Net Reserve created in the 2018 Budget Act, bringing the total in this reserve to $900 million.
The budget also includes a $1.77 billion mandatory transfer to the Prop 2 Rainy Day Fund, as well as $2.3 billion in the discretionary Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties. Combined, this brings total state GF budget reserves to $18.5 billion by the end of 2019-20. The budget also projects that the Prop 2 Rainy Day Fund alone will rise to $19.4 billion by 2022-23.
Under Prop 2, the $1.77 billion transfer to the Rainy Day Fund also triggers an equal $1.77 billion payment toward reducing state debts and liabilities; the budget proposes to meet this requirement by paying down the state’s retiree health and unfunded pension liabilities by that amount. In addition, Governor Newsom is proposing $4 billion to eliminate other state budgetary debts. Those actions include the full repayment of loans from special funds made during the Great Recession, and elimination of deferrals of state payroll and CalPERS payments also implemented during the recession.

Proposition 98 and LCFF

The DOF calculates the 2019-20 Proposition 98 guarantee to be $80.7 billion, an increase of $2.8 billion over the 2018-19 Prop 98 guarantee provided in the 2018 Budget Act. The DOF’s Prop 98 calculation is consistent with the estimate provided by the LAO in November 2018.
Due to continued declines in both average daily attendance (ADA) and GF revenue growth, the Prop 98 guarantees for both 2017-18 and 2018-19 are adjusted downward by $120 million and $526 million, respectively, in the Governor’s proposed budget. However, the Governor also proposes to hold K-14 education harmless with respect to those adjustments, by over-appropriating the guarantee in 2017-18 and using $686 million in Prop 98 settle-up funds to cover what could have been a reduction in funding for 2018-19.
Growth in Prop 98 allows the Governor to cover a 3.46% COLA, providing a $2 billion increase to district and county office of education LCFF allocations and a $187 million increase for certain categoricals. This growth also allows additional funding to expand special education services, further support the state’s new accountability system, begin to rebuild the state’s education data systems and support his early learning agenda.
Despite this growth in spending and the one-time funding to “buy-down” employer contribution rates in CalSTRS, there remains a growing interest among school advocates to focus on addressing California’s woefully insufficient per-pupil spending. Concerns about funding levels are particularly acute given the rapid increase in the costs of running schools, including everything from pension to health benefits to transportation to education technology expenses.
Discussions continue to focus on creating new funding goals, perhaps a new LCFF target that moves California closer to the per-pupil funding provided by the top 10% of states. Even after all of the increases in the Prop 98 guarantee since the Great Recession, “full implementation” of the LCFF, and continued growth in Prop 98, California remains in the bottom 10% of states in cost-adjusted per-pupil spending.

Immediate Reduction in CalSTRS Employer Contribution Rate

By proposing to invest $3 billion in one-time funds towards K-14 pension liabilities, the Governor hopes to free up billions of dollars in operational funds for school districts: $700 million over the next two years and approximately $6.9 billion over the next three decades.
For years, school districts and county offices have underscored the need to bolster the financial sustainability of not only the underfunded pension systems but local education agencies (LEAs) themselves, due to rising pension costs. Governor Newsom’s first budget validates and responds to those concerns.
In the short-term, a total of $700 million from the non-Proposition 98 side of the budget will be provided to buy down the employer contribution rates in 2019-20 and 2020-21, the final two years of the CalSTRS funding plan’s statutory rate increases. By offsetting these rate increases, the Governor will keep an equivalent amount of money in the classroom.
The Budget also proposes to invest $2.3 billion towards school employers’ long-term unfunded liability at CalSTRS. The prepayment is expected to reduce contribution rates by 0.5 percent (ongoing), or approximately $6.9 billion over the next three decades.
Elsewhere, the Budget proposes $5.9 billion in GF expenditures to address the state’s long-term pension liabilities—including a one-time $3 billion cash supplemental pension payment to CalPERS and $2.9 billion (using Proposition 2 funds) over the next four years to CalSTRS. These supplemental pension payments are intended to curb the growing costs of the state’s retirement programs and are estimated to result in $14.6 billion in savings over the long term.

Early Childhood Expansion

As promised on the campaign trail, Governor Newsom proposes to expand child care and early learning programs.
State Preschool – As a step towards his goal of universal preschool in California, the Governor proposes to increase access to the existing State Preschool Program for all low-income four-year-olds. Specifically, the Administration proposes to:

  • Provide $124.9 million non-Prop 98 GF in 2019-20 and additional investments in the next two state budgets to fund a total of 200,000 preschool slots by 2021-22.
  • Eliminate the existing requirement that families of four-year-olds provide proof of parent employment or enrollment in higher education to access full-day programs.
  • Shift $297.1 million Prop 98 GF for part-day State Preschool Programs at non-LEAs to non-Prop 98 GF, to allow non-LEA providers to draw down full-day, full-year reimbursement from a single funding source and to provide the flexibility to make better use of their contract funding.

Full-Day Kindergarten – The Governor proposes $750 million one-time non-Prop 98 GF for eligible school districts to build or retrofit facilities for full-day Kindergarten programs. See the Facilities section below for additional information.
Child Care – The Administration proposes $500 million one-time non-Prop 98 GF to expand subsidized child care facilities in the state and improve the education and professional development of child care providers. The Governor also proposes $247 million in one-time funds to the California State University to be used for child care infrastructure for students on college campuses.
CalWorks Stage 2 and 3 Child Care – The Governor proposes a net increase of $119.4 million (non-Prop 98) to reflect an increase in the number of CalWORKs child care cases. Total costs for Stage 2 and 3 are $597 million (Stage 2) and $482.2 million (Stage 3).
Child Savings Accounts (CSAs) – The Administration proposes $50 million one-time GF (non-Prop 98) to support pilot projects and partnerships with First 5 California, local First 5 Commissions, local government, and philanthropy to increase access to CSAs for incoming kindergartners.

School Facilities

School Facilities Bonds – In a major reversal from the prior administration, Governor Newsom proposes to issue $1.5 billion in Proposition 51 (2016) bonds next year and increase the Office of Public School Construction’s funding by $1.2 million to speed the processing of applications. This shift reflects—almost exactly—the requests by the educational advocacy community over the past two years. It also reflects a $906 million year-over-year increase in bond sales compared to the current fiscal year.
Facilities Funding to Implement Universal Full-Day Kindergarten – Citing the long-term academic benefit of children attending full-day, high-quality early primary education programs, the Governor proposes $750 million in one-time, non-Prop 98 GF to eligible school districts to construct new or retrofit existing facilities for full-day kindergarten programs or “to fund other activities that reduce barriers to providing full-day kindergarten.” This would build on last year’s $100 million grant program for full-day kindergarten facilities.
Potential Threat to District Developer Fees – In response to the housing crisis—both supply and affordability—the Governor has highlighted the need to address local developer fees, which he believes contribute substantially to the cost of development. It is not clear the Governor was referring to developer fees used to cover the costs of building new schools, incurred when home construction creates local demand for educational facilities. The Governor stated in his budget presentation that he will create a task force on the subject.

Accountability, Data, and the Statewide System of Support

County Offices of Education – COEs were given a major role to play in the overhaul of the state’s accountability system. To support the role COEs play in supporting their districts, the proposal provides an increase of $20.2 million Prop 98 GF dollars, consistent with the formula that was adopted in last year’s budget.
Improved and Expanded Data Systems– Governor Newsom put a high priority on improved educational data systems throughout his campaign. Reflecting that priority, the budget proposal provides $10 million to plan and begin development of a longitudinal data system that would integrate existing data systems to provide more comprehensive information on how students are progressing from cradle to career.
Promoting User-Friendly Accountability Systems – To promote community interaction with the electronic pieces of the accountability system, the Budget Proposal provides $350,000 one-time money to merge the Dashboard, the LCAP electronic template, and other reporting documents, including the School Accountability Report Card.

Special Education

The administration proposes an infusion of $576 million Proposition 98 GF dollars, of which $186 million is proposed as one-time. This is more than likely a response to annual calls from special education advocates that the system is administratively burdensome, underfunded, and too often ineffective at increasing academic performances of those it serves.
These new grants will be focused on LEAs with high concentrations of either special education students or unduplicated pupils. Allowable expenditures of these dollars appear to be fairly broad, and can range from special education supports outside of an existing individualized education program to preventive measures that might lessen future needs. The Administration is not proposing any major structural shifts in the way special education services are provided across the state.

Charter School Capital logoSince the company’s inception in 2007, Charter School Capital has been committed to the success of charter schools. We provide growth capital and facilities financing to charter schools nationwide. Our depth of experience working with charter school leaders and our knowledge of how to address charter school financial and operational needs have allowed us to provide over $1.8 billion in support of 600 charter schools that have educated over 1,027,000 students across the country. For more information on how we can support your charter school, contact us. We’d love to work with you!

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4 New Year’s Resolutions to Jumpstart Your Charter School Marketing Efforts

2019 is here, prompting us to think about resolutions and goals for this year—if we haven’t already! This is the year that I will finally get into shape, or I will lose 10 pounds. But what about setting those 2019 goals for your school? Setting new year’s resolutions for increased success with your charter school marketing efforts might be high on your list of things to do.
But, whether personal or work-related, inevitably by the end of March we all look back and wonder…what happened? Don’t feel bad, according to US News, approximately 80 percent of New Year’s resolutions fail by the second week of February.
But why do they fail? Often the reason is that we set lofty goals and then when we don’t see progress, it is easy to get disheartened and give up. I have found that breaking my resolutions into smaller, more attainable steps is the best way to make progress. Even if I don’t achieve the full resolution, I have at least taken some steps to achieve my goals.
At the outset, thinking about improving your charter school’s enrollment marketing program can seem like a huge undertaking with multiple considerations. However, simply by taking some small steps, you can start seeing the results you’re after.
Here are some resolutions that you can actually keep – so you can start getting some quick wins towards achieving your charter school marketing goals this year!

1. Resolve to get some professional development on how to market your school.

Hopefully, this article can help you achieve this goal, but there are a lot of other resources out there for you to improve your skills in marketing your school. One of the biggest challenges that I hear from my charter school clients is that they never received training on how to market their school.
You don’t need to go back to school to get your degree in marketing. There are a lot of great, free resources that you can tap into to improve your marketing acumen, and ultimately, drive more enrollment for your school.

  • HubSpot HubSpot is a CRM company that I recommend to a lot of my clients. In addition to offering a robust software application that many schools use, they offer a ton of great online marketing training classes to help you develop your marketing knowledge. And the best part about it? It is totally free! From the basics of “inbound marketing”, to developing your email strategy or how to use Facebook in your marketing, HubSpot has you covered. These courses are very well done and generally, you can finish a course in under two hours. For more school-specific marketing and recruitment training, there are several blogs and newsletters that are more specific towards driving higher school enrollment.
  • InspirEd Rob and Liza Norman send out a daily email that covers a lot of ground on effective school marketing. Though they approach this from the perspective of an independent school, and are more about graphic design and communications, a lot of the lessons and case studies that they discuss are applicable for a charter school.
  • SchneiderB Media Brendan Schneider is the director of admissions at Sewickley Academy in Sewickley, PA. His company, SchneiderB Media, has a great blog, podcast and Facebook group that covers a lot of the topics in creating an effective school marketing program.
  • Bright Minds Marketing I admit that I am biased here since this is mine, but our semi-monthly newsletters cover different topics for how schools can improve their enrollment process from the ttraction of prospective students to how to better retain your student body. I am also working on a web-based class that I hope to introduce early in 2019.
  • Image7 is a group out of Australia that has a monthly newsletter, blog and a podcast. I admit that I love listening to the Australian accent, but there is a lot of good information these guys put out. Some doesn’t really apply to US based charter schools, but you can still gather a few ideas from these guys.
  • Charter School Capital provides lots of resources free to charter schools to help them grow and sustain enrollment. Their new Digital Marketing for Charter Schools manual is a really helpful guide for those who are just starting their marketing efforts and want a step-by-step guide, and for those who just want to bolster the efforts, they’re already making.

Resolve to get your in-bound certification from HubSpot, download some helpful content, and sign up for two to three school marketing related newsletters. With a small investment of around four hours, you’ll be taking a great first step into becoming a more effective school marketer.

2. Make this the year that you launch a school satisfaction survey

Regardless if you are school with a long waiting list or one that is struggling to fill all your seats, your school will benefit from understanding how your current parents and staff view the operations of your school.
Related: The What, Why, and How-to for Designing a School Satisfaction Survey for your Charter School
If the prospect of writing a comprehensive survey fills you with dread, do a very short, five-question survey. Ask the following questions:

  1. How did you hear about our school)?
  2. On a scale of 0 – 10, how likely are you to recommend our school to a friend or family member?
  3. What would you consider the strengths of our school?
  4. What would you consider the weaknesses of our school?
  5. What is the one thing you wished we would change about our school?

These simple questions give you a lot of information: you know which channel is most effective in your marketing; you have a quantifiable number for your satisfaction levels that you can track over time; and you have identified areas that families like and areas where they feel you need improvement.
This gives you a lot of visibility and helps to form your improvement plans for the upcoming year.
There are a lot of survey platforms out there like SurveyMonkey, QuestionPro or you can even just make this survey in Google Forms.
A brief survey like this won’t cover everything, but if you aren’t doing one right now, it is a huge step forward.

3. Learn the key metric in your enrollment marketing

Sometimes gathering all your enrollment data together into an easy-to-analyze format can seem like a daunting challenge. The data might reside within multiple different spreadsheets and across different groups and people within your school.
But keeping with the theme of quick wins, there are two valuable steps you can take that will provide the valuable data needed to help inform your recruitment efforts:

  1. Gather the names of all the families who attended tours at your school
  2. Match these up with the names of families who newly enrolled at your school and divide

This small exercise is going to give you the most important metric in enrollment marketing: your “yield rate”.
Related: How to Use Data to Improve Your Charter School’s Enrollment
Knowing what percentage of students convert after a tour is one of the most actionable pieces of data that you can have. It allows you to understand if your challenge is in the attraction stage (getting families to come to the tour) or in the conversion stage (getting families to enroll). Once you have this information, you can focus on improving that particular part of your enrollment marketing program.

4. Get an outside perspective on the effectiveness of your school tour

When was the last time you evaluated the effectiveness of your school tour? If you are like most schools, this is not something that you spend a lot of time analyzing. It can be easy to fall into the trap of just doing the same thing again and again. But what if your tour is not effective? If you looked at your conversion rate, you probably know the answer, but how do you fix it?
Ask a friendly parent or a faculty member to pretend to be a prospective parent and run them through your typical school tour. Kind of like a “secret shopper”. I’m sure that they’ll point out things that you might have missed that are the best attributes of your school and perhaps some areas that need attention. Sometimes we are too close to a task to realize that there are ways that we could get better. And they might have some great ideas about a certain program or feature of your school that would resonate more with prospective parents in your community.
Achieving these four goals can make a big difference in your school recruitment efforts. Though they might seem small, if you do them this year, you will start to become a better charter school enrollment marketer and bring more students into your school. Best of luck for the New Year!

Digital Marketing for Charter SchoolsDigital Marketing for Charter Schools: An Actionable Workbook to Help You Achieve Your School’s Goals!
Scratching your head as to how to go about implementing digital marketing for your charter school? You’re not alone! This free manual will be your go-to guide for all of your school’s digital marketing needs! Download this actionable workbook to help get your marketing plans started, guide you as you define your audience and key differentiators, choose your tactics and start to build your campaigns.

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A Strong Partnership for Success Between New City Schools and Charter School Capital

With so many choices for where go to access financial resources for your school, it’s important to select the right one for you. At Charter School Capital, we believe in the power of charter schools and their leaders to deliver quality education to families across the country. And we’re proud to provide the reliability and stability charter leaders require as they walk their journey to better educate more students today—and in the future.

Please watch and listen as Sabrina Bow, Executive Director, New City Schools, shares her experience working with Charter School Capital during some very difficult financial times for charter schools in California.

This video was originally published Jul 17, 2014. While we are not currently funding New City Schools, we are proud of the way our support helped them meet the needs of their students, parents, and teachers. Our team is dedicated to helping your school become financially stable, successful, and set up for future growth. To learn how other school’s have achieved success by partnering with us, check out our other success stories here and filter by the content type, “School Spotlights”.
Watch the short video to hear Sabrina’s story and find the transcript below. You can learn more about Charter School Capital here.

Sabrina Bow: Executive Director, New City Public Schools:

“We are a small Charter Management Organization in Long Beach, California. We offer a dual language program in English and Spanish, and our focus is on social justice, collaboration, the natural environment, and technology. Charter schools are increasingly having to find other ways of funding. We’ve made commitments to students, parents, and teachers to provide a high level of education and really an all-inclusive second family, if you will, for students.

We’ve made those long-term commitments to be there, and unfortunately, with the state of the economy and the state of deferrals, we find ourselves having to find different options.

Charter School Capital is a financial partner that comes in, understands the school, understands the school leaders. They take the time to do that.

In my experience, Charter School Capital is a financial partner that comes in, understands the school, understands the school leaders. They take the time to do that. They’re able to sit down with us and create a funding plan and be part of our financial plan, provide the technical expertise to schools, and present it in a straightforward way.

There’s always a cost to finance. Some of the criticism has been Charter School Capital, and other providers who purchase receivables are taking advantage of charter schools. I think that that really diminishes the responsibility that charter school operators have to build not only a solid educational program but also to build a solid business infrastructure that supports that educational program.

It’s never been a doubt for me that Charter School Capital is deeply concerned, deeply interested, in the well-being of schools, and beyond the financial well-being is the ability of schools to continue to provide a solid education for students. I’m happy that Charter School Capital is able to work with schools and work with us to help us so that we can continue to meet the needs of our students, parents, and teachers. I view them as a close partner.”

Charter School Capital logoSince the company’s inception in 2007, Charter School Capital has been committed to the success of charter schools. We provide growth capital and facilities financing to charter schools nationwide. Our depth of experience working with charter school leaders and our knowledge of how to address charter school financial and operational needs have allowed us to provide over $1.8 billion in support of 600 charter schools that have educated over 1,027,000 students across the country. For more information on how we can support your charter school, contact us. We’d love to work with you!

LEARN MORE