Though there are still votes to be tallied we wanted to get you an early election update on some California races. Over the next week or so as additional ballots are counted some of these races will change. As expected, Joe Biden carried California in the Presidential race so we will focus on other races of note.
The two biggest fights in the state were over Proposition 15 and Proposition 22. Proposition 15 was an effort to increase property taxes on businesses to fund education and other programs in the state. It was supported by a number of labor unions, elected officials and liberal advocacy groups. It was heavily opposed by the business community and other groups. Proposition 15 is currently headed to defeat with a 48.3% – 51.7% margin. Going in the opposite direction Proposition 22 is headed to passage with a 58.4% – 41.6% margin.crowd hands raised
Proposition 22 was pushed by Uber, Lyft and the gig companies as an answer to AB 5 which passed the legislature last year. AB 5 mandated that a number of companies make their workers employees and not contractors. As a result Uber and Lyft led a coalition of companies in sponsoring the ballot measure which changes the law. It was a huge win for them and a bigger loss for the legislature which refused to carve certain companies out when passing AB 5.
In the State Legislature the Democrats will continue to hold super-majorities in both the State Assembly and State Senate. In the State Assembly Democrats will actually lose a seat as two Republicans were running against each other in the 38th district where Christy Smith ran for Congress instead of reelection. In the 38th Suzette Martinez Valladares will be the new Republican member. In the State Senate Republicans are threatened with a possible loss of up to 4 seats. The 23rd district is an open Republican seat where Republican Rosilice Ochoa Bogh is tied at 50% of the vote with Democrat Abigail Medina. In the 21st Republican incumbent Scott Wilk is barely ahead of Democrat Kipp Mueller 50.1% – 49.9%. In both the 29th and 37th districts Republican incumbents are trailing their Democratic challengers. Former Democratic Senator Josh Newman is up 51.6% – 48.4% over Republican Ling Ling Chang in the 29th. In the 37th Republican incumbent John Moorlach is trailing his Democratic challenger Dave Min 48.1% – 51.9%. If these Senate results hold it could leave the Republicans with only a handful of members in the body.
As stated earlier there are still votes to be counted but these are the state of some of the races at the current time.
You can use this website to locate which Assembly and Senate district that you reside in: FindYourRep.Legislature.ca.gov.
This year when the California Legislature passed their budget they did not provide funding for growing schools, both traditional and charter schools. In the education budget trailer bill, SB 98, the CA Legislature held school district and charter school funding harmless at the 2019 – 2020 levels which essentially capped funding and provides no new dollars for additional students enrolled in the 2020 – 2021 school year.
This created a lot of acrimony and opposition from different sectors in the education community. Governor Newsom acknowledged the issue, in a message to the legislature, when he signed the budget trailer bill urging them to craft a targeted solution for the funding issue.
Due to this lack of funding four charter schools have filed a lawsuit against the state and numerous education reform groups are lobbying the legislature to address the issue. The legislature adjourns for the year on August 31st so the race is on to enact a fix.
The Department of Finance has released their first draft of language to provide a legislative fix. Though it might work for some traditional schools it is not an ideal fix for charter schools. Additionally, the language specifically leaves non-classroom based charter schools out of the fix. There is no policy rationale to cut off funding for students deciding to change schools during this pandemic that is gripping the nation.
Many non-classroom based charter schools experience growth throughout the year and the COVID – 19 virus has seen these numbers increase for the 2020 – 2021 school year.
I urge you to call your legislator and advocate that they fund all students in California, regardless of what public school they attend. It is an issue of equity and fairness that should not be taken lightly.
You can use this website to locate which Assembly and Senate district that you reside in: FindYourRep.Legislature.ca.gov.
New 2019 Charter School Program Grants Now Available for Developers
This information was shared by The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. 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 school choice, 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.
The US Department of Education published a notice inviting applications for grants to Charter School Developers for the Opening of New Charter Schools and for the Replication and Expansion of High-Quality Charter Schools.
This notice includes applications for developers of new charter schools (84.282B) and for developers replicating and expanding existing charter schools (84.282E). Charter school developers in states that do not currently have a Charter Schools Program (CSP) State Entity grant are eligible to apply. Read more information about this grant competition, including webinar recording for interested applicants, or contact the CSP team at charterschools@ed.gov.
Applications are due before midnight Eastern time
on August 2.
Learn How to Raise Charter School Community Support, Engagement, and Awareness
Community Awareness
The point of your charter school is, of course, to provide a quality education for your students. But if families don’t know about your school, you’ll have trouble meeting your enrollment targets. Aim high! Charter school community awareness should be developed and nurtured in such a way as to open each school year with a wait list. It’s a simple metric, but it’s a great way to show the world at large that parents believe in you and that students want to attend your school. For new schools and mature schools alike, the ultimate goals are to have a wait list before you open your doors each school year and to become an integral part of the fabric of your community.
To accomplish these goals, you’ll want to:
Create awareness among your community and make friends and allies with business leaders, vendors, and community groups. You’ll build valuable relationships—and share your mission with hundreds of parents.
Create a strategic plan for growing community support, including milestones and benchmarks. For this, don’t start from scratch—tap into your founding team, community members, or volunteers who have marketing expertise.
Six Actionable Ways to Build Charter School Community Engagement
Getting engaged with your community (both in person and online) will provide valuable opportunities to let your community meet and get to know not only your school’s staff and students, but also your school’s culture, values, and mission. You can have a great school, with an innovative curriculum and the most dedicated staff in the world, but if nobody knows about it, enrollment will suffer. Here are six actionable ways you can build strong community engagement: Community Events: A consistent presence at community events, such as farmer’s markets, seasonal festivals, holiday parades, and cultural and arts events. This may include a table or a booth—but be creative; the goal is to stand out. Social Media: Draw on the expertise of a founder or volunteer who does this full-time. Facebook and Instagram are great ways to engage the community, but only if you have regular, engaging, and sustained updates. Informational Meetings: Provide regularly scheduled informational meetings for parents to learn about your mission and vision. If you don’t yet have facilities, consider using meeting rooms at your district office or reserving free spaces at a library or community center. Provide webinars and in-person presentations at different times of day to cater to working parents. Business Outreach: Be sure to reach out to the Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Clubs. It’s never too early to build strong relationships with members of your business community. Facility Tours: Once you have a school, conduct frequent tours to show the public what they’re supporting. Public Relations: Tell your story to anyone who will listen including local news, podcasts, bloggers, and well-connected community leaders. You’ll build goodwill and reach parents who may not have previously considered a charter school for their children.
Take action! Create a strategic plan to implement these six tips for engaging your community—and get the dates on the calendar now—because everything you do to share your story helps!
Three Best Practices for Building Charter School Community Awareness
Consider speaking for free at events such as Rotary Club meetings and community groups—it’s a great way to give back to the community even as you create allies and position yourself as an expert.
Use every opportunity to share meaningful stories and demonstrate improvement through metrics in order to continue to build goodwill in your community and spread your message.
Don’t hesitate to promote the ways that your students and staff are giving back! Share their efforts on your website, the school newspaper, and with local media.
How to Build Charter School Community Support
Support your community and your community will be more inclined to support you back! So how do you build community support? As your charter school continues to mature, you’ll have the opportunity to become a cornerstone and leader in business, arts, and civic organizations. Here are some key questions to ask:
How can your students play a prominent role in the community? Think about school-wide volunteer days, food and clothing drives, or hosting a talent show that showcases your students and raises funds for a local hospital or shelter—and generates positive local media coverage.
How can you position your staff as community leaders in addition to expert educators?
Can teachers present at local meetings or conferences?If your school has extracurricular clubs, how can they give back to the community? Volunteering is a great way to demonstrate your values as a school and to authentically share your story.
Ultimately, community support means more than having a strong turnout at authorization hearings, though that’s important, too. It also means having strong relationships with business leaders, vendors, community groups, local media, and other charter schools.
If all goes well, you’ll be operating in your community for decades to come, and you’ll need your neighbors behind you every step of the way—including well before it comes time for authorization hearings.
Digital 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.
Six Charter School Sustainability Tips from Experienced Charter School Leaders
We hope these six charter school sustainability tips help your team be more adaptable, strategic, data-driven, analytical, and efficient—all in support of your school’s continued success.
1. BE MINDFUL OF—AND ADAPTABLE TO—PIVOTAL MOMENTS
An active board member retires, a storm renders three classrooms unusable, a well-loved teacher leaves. It’s impossible to predict every circumstance that can disrupt a school’s operational rhythm and culture. The important thing is to acknowledge the disruption when it occurs and to have a plan to maintain operational and cultural continuity for your students no matter what.
2. UNDERSTAND THAT STRATEGIC ENROLLMENT = STABILITY
Mature-stage schools are past the point of increasing enrollment by 30 – 40% every year, and that’s great news. But remember: strategically increasing enrollment can be an effective way to ensure financial and operational stability. If you have staff and space in your facility, weigh the financial costs and benefits of recruiting a small number of students to every grade, in addition to the traditional focus on the incoming class of kindergarteners, sixth graders, or ninth graders.
3. CONTINUE TO FOCUS ON A DATA-DRIVEN CULTURE
Ensure that everyone, including students and parents, knows the goals for the academic year and can access school-wide metrics whenever they like. Keeping the goals and the metrics top of mind will help to keep everyone focused and let you know if you’re meeting key benchmarks along the way.
4. CELEBRATE YOUR SUCCESS AND VIEW FAILURES AS STRATEGIC OPPORTUNITIES
Celebrate every goal that’s achieved, award that’s won, and staff member that receives recognition. But look at the failures, too. That’s where your opportunities for improvement lie. Analyzing failures can be a great way to begin next year’s strategic plan.
5. DEVELOP THE PILLARS THAT DEFINE THE CULTURE YOU WANT TO HAVE
Look back at your charter; have you fulfilled the promises you made at the outset? Sit down with your team and think about the values at the core of who you are now and who you want to be in the future. Choose four or five pillars so students and staff can remember them, and give public recognition to any individual who goes out of their way to embody a value.
6. ASSESS ALL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS REGULARLY
We’ve all been there—using a billing system that makes you grit your teeth or sitting through half a dozen interviews with unqualified candidates. At any school there will be frustrations on occasion, but schedule time to review and replace faulty and time-wasting systems whenever possible.
Click here to download this resource in single-page PDF format.
The Charter School Growth Manual
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.
Do You Know the Four Pillars of Charter School Sustainability?
Editor’s Note: For this CHARTER EDtalk, our own Charter School Capital Advisor, Ryan Eldrige, was honored to be joined by Jeff Rice, Founder and Director of APLUS+, The Association of Personalized Learning Schools & Services, to discuss the Four Pillars of Charter School Sustainability. Jeff is passionate about the charter school movement and because of his dedication, APLUS+ has been a leading voice to raise awareness and understanding of the critical need for parent and student choice in public education, and specifically for a personalized learning option in education for the growing number of students for whom a rigid, classroom-only model is not a good match for success.
To learn more about the Four Pillars of Charter School Sustainability, please watch the video or read the transcript below for the full story.
Ryan Eldridge:Hello and thank you for joining this episode of CHARTER EDtalks. I’m Ryan Eldridge, Charter School Capital Advisor, and I’m honored to be joined today by Jeff Rice, director and founder of the APlus+ Personalized Learning Network Association, and we’re going to be talking about building strong community engagement. So, welcome Jeff. Thank you for joining us. Jeff Rice: Well, thank you. It’s an honor to be here as well. Eldridge:Why don’t we just kick it off. I’ll ask you a couple of questions, and we’ll just dive right into it. So, can you tell us a little bit about APlus+ and the APlus+ network and your theme for this year?
About APLUS+ and Personalized Learning
Rice: APlus+ is the first and currently the only association whose mission and vision is to advance personalized learning and to support all schools, but particularly charter schools whose mission and vision is to personalize learning.
When we talk about personalized learning, because that tends to be a phrase that can be used to represent a wide variety of things, we’re talking about a model of education that provides choice and flexibility in how, what, when, where and with whom each student learns. So, it is incumbent upon every school, who supports that mission and vision, to provide a wide variety of choices. Sort of a buffet menu that can be matched to the needs of each and every student.
We were founded 17 years ago in 2002, so this is our 17th year in operation, and we have built a strong reputation as the pioneers in education for personalizing learning in the 21st century. Our theme for this year is Strengthen That Which We Can Control, and the reason we chose that theme is obviously because of the consequences of the 2018 elections and the choice (of some within the status quo education system) to use charter schools as scapegoats for all of the financial troubles, the academic issues that the district schools are experiencing, and they’re using charter schools as the reason for their fiscal mismanagement and academic failures, of course, all of which is false.
But what we can control is to strengthen our schools in four particular areas, which we call the Four Pillars of Sustainability. If you’d like me to-
The Four Pillars of Charter School Sustainability
Eldridge:That was my next question. Now, I was just going to ask you can you go into the Four Pillars of Sustainability? Rice: I jumped right into it. Eldridge: That’s great. Please do. Rice: Okay. So, the Four Pillars of Sustainability, which are the four primary areas in which we have direct control over are as follows.
PILLAR 1: Accountability and Transparency
Rice: Obviously with the recent signing into law of SB 126 by [California] Governor Newsom, requiring charter schools now formally even though most charter schools were already complying with these requirements, but formally, legally, to comply with the Brown Act requirements, the Public Records Act requirements, the Political Reform Act requirements, and sections of Government Code 1090. It has intensified the requirements for charter schools to be very transparent in those areas. So, with regard to governance, charter schools now really have to step it up to make sure that they are following all the requirements now that are being required of them.
In addition to, of course, what they’ve been required to do all along, and that is make sure that they follow their charter school petition in their administration that they meet their LCAP goals and do their reporting mechanisms as they are required to do to make sure that their finances are in order and that they are fiscally responsible and prudent that they have the required reserves set aside as well as legal compliance to make sure that they are very familiar with charter school law, very familiar with all the areas in which they are required and being scrutinized to follow. As we know, the scrutiny has intensified in the last couple of years. And as a result of the 2018 elections, has intensified even more. That is the first pillar, accountability and transparency.
PILLAR 2: Student Data, Growth, and Achievement
Rice:The second pillar has to do with student data, growth, and academic achievement. Of course, student data is an area in which we can significantly improve, particularly around student intake data. In my nearly 20 years of experience, I hear countless stories about how students who have been struggling in district-operated public schools are coming to charter schools, and their first or second year state testing results, of course, are far below proficient, the reason being because they are inheriting the failures of those district schools with those particular students who upon enrollment with the charter school are several grade levels behind, are credit deficient, are having all kinds of challenges that are not the fault of the charter school at all.
The Importance of Data to Demonstrate Growth
Rice: But the charter schools can do a much better job of documenting that information and translating it into a reportable document that shows that they didn’t start on an even ground when they enroll that student. Well, to use this starting gate analogy, they weren’t at the starting gate. They were hundreds of furlongs behind the starting gate and had to play several years of catch-up in order to bring those students to proficiency in all of the core subject areas. But yet the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) results don’t show that. CAASPP results do not reflect that at least until year three or year four.
If the student stays that long with the charter school, the students’ testing results start to reflect the great work that the charter school is doing. So, we need to do a much better job of documenting data and then recording data and reporting it. In addition to that, we need to do a better job not only on the CAASPP results and the dashboard indicators but also using internal assessment data to show internal growth. There are a number of effective tools out there that every charter school should be using regardless of the type of model the charter school is to be able to document internal growth where a one-year snapshot test by the state does not provide all of the story.
Then in addition to that, we want to make sure to use other types of indicators that demonstrate success, college and career indicators and so forth, some of which the state is finally after all these years adopting formally, but to the degree to which the charter school can show those additional indicators. Even post-secondary placement indicators will help in the mix of demonstrating success.
That is the second pillar. Those are more internal pillars by the way. The other two pillars are more external. I believe that charter schools across the board need to recognize that they assume the role of dual educators.
They are equally responsible for showing positive successful results with their students as they are in educating their greater communities and the public.
PILLAR 3: Brand Identity and Sharing Your Success Stories
Rice: We know that still after 26 years of being a movement in California, that the majority of the public still doesn’t know what a charter school is. When most of you say, “We are from a charter school,” the first question out of their mouth most of the time is, “How much does it cost?” That is a mirror that reflects back to you their lack of knowledge in what a charter school is.
In fact, it tells you that the majority of the public still after 26 years believes that charter schools are private schools because how many people in the public think that there is a tuition fee for a public school?
Unless they’ve been living in a cave, they know that public schools are tuition free. So, for them to say, “How much does it cost?” tells you that they believe that charter schools are private schools.
Unless they’ve been living in a cave, they know that public schools are tuition free. So, for them to say, “How much does it cost?” tells you that they believe that charter schools are private schools.
That is a huge public relations disaster for the charter school movement where the majority of the public still doesn’t recognize that charter schools are part, an integral part, of the public school system. Now, our opposition is taking advantage of that by going out and using false propaganda and talking points to say that charter schools are stealing public school students. Charter schools are stealing public school dollars from the public education system.
Rebranding Charter Schools
Rice: So, they’re using that lack of knowledge in the public to their advantage to use charter schools as a scapegoat and to demonize charter schools and to sway the public against charter schools even though charter schools are an integral part of the public education system. In order to turn that around, not only do we need to educate the public about charter schools being an integral part of the public education system, but charter schools need to adopt a strong brand identity. A brand identity is a way to, in layman’s terms, describe who you are, what you do, and how you do what you do.
What is the end result? The end goal is to create value and distinction in the mind of the public, so they recognize that you are an essential part of a vibrant and healthy public school system in their community that you are serving students whose needs are not being effectively met by other types of public schools. Now, that’s not to say that we should get rid of all district schools and go all charter. This is not about charter schools versus district schools. This is about having a healthy and vibrant and diversified public education system that provides equal access and equal opportunity to all students, to find the school and the program that is best matched to them to ensure their best chance at succeeding and going on to a productive life through career and college pathways.
This is about having a healthy and vibrant and diversified public education system that provides equal access and equal opportunity to all students, to find the school and the program that is best matched to them to ensure their best chance at succeeding and going on to a productive life through career and college pathways.
To establish a brand identity is to succinctly describe who you are, what you do, and how you do what you do in a way that the public understands and recognizes the tremendous value to society and to the public education system that they’re currently not seeing by not even knowing that what a charter school is. So, it’s incumbent upon every charter school to establish a strong brand identity, and from that foundation to then tell your success stories and tell your success stories through a wide variety of avenues, from social media, to traditional media, to developing relationships in the community, which gets, then, to our fourth pillar of sustainability, and that is to develop strong relationships and allies out in the community.
PILLAR 4: Building Community Relationships and Allies
Eldridge:Please elaborate on this one. This is important, I think, for a lot of charter schools. Rice: That’s right. Because charter school leaders wear so many different hats, they tend to really have little or no time to reach out to their greater communities, and yet that is equally as critical as serving the needs of their students, especially in today’s very contentious climate where we’re really facing some of the most anti-charter legislation and anti-charter perspectives and sentiment and downright attacks that we have experienced in 26 years of existence.
So, the heat has been intensified. It is incumbent upon charter school leaders to reach out, not operate in isolation, not operate as separate islands, but to reach out and develop strong relationships with community leaders and community organizations that make a difference.
And in so doing to build allies so that when we are challenged by the status quo system that believes in a monopoly ahead of the best interests of students and ahead of parent and students’ school choice, which should be the foundation that everybody agrees on.
But yet that is not what we’re currently facing. We need to have those local allies to influence decision-makers and elected officials are responsible for making policy at the state level, to remind them that the most important focus is what is in the best interest of students, and how can we together create a vibrant and healthy education system that offers diverse choice and opportunity for all students to ensure that all students succeed? That should be the goal for everybody, but yet it’s not.
So, developing those community relationships by reaching out to individuals, engaging with them, educating them, inviting them to be a part of your school community, of your greater concentric circles of influence, makes all the difference in the world, and that needs to be integrated into the culture of every school as vitally as important as is integrated into the school, the goal of academic excellence. Eldridge:Yeah, can you provide some specific tips on how they can actually engage the community and create those allies? Is that inviting authorizers out to board meetings? Is it holding community events? How do you suggest they do some of those things? Rice: Well, I think first and foremost, it’s to invite them to be part of your interview informational distribution network. Get them on your email distribution list. Develop an email newsletter or other ways of distributing and disseminating information on a regular basis, some of which may include invitations to all school events whether those events are open house events; they’re events that honor and recognize community leaders for their support, which are very important. Community leaders love to come and receive awards, and to find excuses and reasons to honor and recognize their leadership and their support in your school and in what you’re doing is vitally important.
Rice: That also includes events that may showcase student talents and student achievements and student results, everything from theater to spelling bees, to robotics team results and those kinds of things. Use those opportunities to reach out to your community and invite folks to join you. Also, use organizations such as Chambers of Commerce and rotary clubs and Elks lodges and other organizations that are parent-driven, that work with troubled youth and teens, that work with families such as real estate agencies, such as church groups and so on. I have a whole list here. I’m trying to remember off the top of my head what a lot of them are. Eldridge:You’re doing great. Rice: But certainly, elected officials. Go out and meet with elected officials, staff at the regional offices. Go visit them in Sacramento. Bring students along to tell their success stories. In addition to the newsletter, use social media outlets. Use traditional media outlets to talk about your student success stories, to talk about your academic results and how you’re making a difference for students who otherwise would not have been successfully served had you not been in existence.
That is what ultimately creates value and distinction. You are providing a school model and results that other types of public schools and even private schools are not able to offer, which means you are an essential ingredient and component to a, to contributing to a healthy and vibrant public school system. Eldridge: Great. Jeff, always passionate. Really appreciate it, it’s great information. Appreciate you coming again today. Rice: Thank you so much for having me. Eldridge: And hopefully everybody else out there enjoyed it, and that wraps up this episode of CHARTER EDtalks. Thank you.
Since 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!
Four Charter School Growth Tips from Experienced Charter School Leaders
We hope the four key strategies here provide useful tips for you and your team to develop a strong charter school culture, empower your staff, individualize instruction, and create operational efficiency—all in support of your growth.
1. Nurture your school’s culture as much as you nurture your students
Ultimately, culture is always a product of the people involved with your school. It can be tough to retain quality leaders and teachers, especially because many charter schools have longer days and academic years than public schools. Teachers have to truly believe in the mission from the outset in order to put in those extra days and hours for years to come. To nurture a rich school culture, it’s essential that the people you hire are aligned with your mission.
2. Prioritize continuous professional development and leadership training
In order to have motivated staff committed to continuous improvement, professional development has to be front and center. This is also an investment in continuity. When people feel like they are getting better at their jobs and have room for growth, they are more likely to stay.
3. Focus on providing individualized instruction to your students and on data analysis
These aren’t contradictory! Every educator knows that one of the best ways to improve the data is to meet each student where they are and provide them with the support necessary to improve and succeed—regardless of your school’s curriculum and goals. Of course, school-wide metrics are the best evidence that individualized instruction is working. Review the metrics frequently, share them widely, and make them everyone’s responsibility.
4. Develop systems to maintain operational consistency and efficiency
Researching, investing in, and mastering new systems is time consuming and expensive. The efficiencies you’ll realize down the road will more than make up for the pain of adoption. If you think you don’t have time to figure out a new software to manage your finances, you really don’t have time to wrangle all the Excel spreadsheets you have been using.
Download the PDF of these four tips here.
The Charter School Growth Manual
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.
Editor’s Note: This article about Federal charter school funding and its reach, was originally posted here on November 6, 2018 by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools and was written by Christy Wolfe, a Senior Policy Advisor for the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.
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.
Charter Schools Program funds are reaching schools in thirty-eight states
Congress appropriated a total of $400 million for these awards for FY 2018, including funds for active awards previously awarded. Due to increased funding in recent years, more states than ever have access to start-up funding—31 states have State Entity grants and charter schools in an additional seven states were successful in receiving Developer grants. Many states are also seeing charter school growth through grants to Charter Management Organizations for the Replication and Expansion of High-Quality Charter Schools, but awards were not made for that program during FY 2018.
This year, the program awards are a bit more complicated because, for the first time, two competitions were run under the new requirements in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Let’s take a closer look at where the money went:
State Entity Grants: Funds to Open Charter Schools and Build Statewide Sector Quality
The State Entity grant program plays a key role in not only awarding subgrants to schools, but also providing funding for technical assistance and strengthening the quality of authorizers in a state.
Eight states received awards: Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Idaho, Michigan, North Carolina, New York.
Five states were not successful: Alabama, D.C., Guam, New Hampshire, Puerto Rico.
Two Charter Support Organizations (CSOs) were funded: The new changes in ESSA unlocked CSP funding for non-state educational agency applicants, including CSOs. This year, two funded applicants from Arkansas and Idaho were CSOs.
At the close of this competition, 31 states (including D.C.) have a current CSP grant in their state (14 states with charter school laws are unfunded). Next year, nine states will likely have expired grants, which leaves a potential (although unlikely) pool of 24 applicants. If Guam and Puerto Rico are included, there will be 26 potential applicants.
Charter School Developer Grants: The Safety Net Program
This is the first year the competition has been run since the passage of ESSA. What is new is that there were two sub-competitions: one for replication/expansion grants, and the other for new charter school operators. There were 22 replication/expansion awards and 10 single site applicants. This year there were 32 funded applicants for a total of $30.2 million.
Ideally, this program would be obsolete. It is a safety for charter schools that wish to open in states that do not have a state entity program. If there was enough funding – and state capacity – for every state with a charter school law to have funding, new charter schools could simply apply to their state. Instead, after obtaining their charter contract, schools need to jump through the hoops required by federal grants to access funding. So, until every state has adequate funding for start-ups in their state, this program will continue to play a key role in advancing charter school growth.
BUT—you may have noticed that some developer grants went to states that also got a state-entity award (Idaho, Illinois, Michigan, North Carolina, and New York). The reason for this is, in part, because ED ran the State Entity and Developer competitions at the same time this year, so Developer applicants didn’t know if their state would receive a State Entity grant prior to applying. ED did not deem those applicants ineligible even when their state ended up receiving a State Entity grant. In addition, some developers were awarded a grant for replication and expansion because their state didn’t have a State Entity grant that permits them to make such awards, such as Ohio (NCLB-era grants don’t permit such awards unless a state has an approved waiver).
Of states that don’t have a CSP State Entity grant, seven have schools that received Developer grants: Alabama, Hawaii, Maine, Missouri, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Utah have charter schools that received Developer grants. Eight states with charter school laws have neither State Entity nor Developer grants (not including Guam and Puerto Rico).
Current Charter Schools Program Grants: State Entity and Developer Grants
Credit Enhancement: Reducing Facility Costs for Charter Schools
The Credit Enhancement program awards grants to organizations to “enhance” charter school credit so that they can access private-sector and other non-Federal capital in order to acquire, construct, and renovate facilities at a more reasonable cost. This year early $40 million was awarded to four entities.
This is a significant decrease from the $56.2 million in awards for 2017. More funds were awarded last year, in part, due to the large pool of high-quality applicants and the needs of the sector. This year, appropriators restricted ED’s flexibility to fund additional applicants, so they were limited to $40 million. Unlike the other CSP programs, Credit Enhancement funds are a one-time allocation so there aren’t any continuation awards—the amount appropriated is the amount that goes out the door.
Dissemination: Advancing Accountability and Facilities Access
Like the Developer program, this was the first competition year for the new National Dissemination program under ESSA. Previously, this program was known as the National Activities program and had a somewhat broader focus. Under ESSA, the program is focused on the dissemination and development of best practices. This year, 8 grants were awarded to organizations and charter school operators for a total of $16.2 million over the grant period. There were two “buckets” of funding to which applicants could apply: charter school authorizing and charter school facilities. For FY 2019, we anticipate that ED will propose new priorities for this program.
The National Alliance is pleased to be a recipient of a Dissemination grant to establish the National Charter Schools Facilities Center to develop and disseminate best practices and reduce the burden of obtaining and financing charter school facilities.
Grants to Charter Management Organizations for the Replication and Expansion of High- Quality Charter Schools: A Delayed Competition
ED did not run a competition for the CMO Replication and Expansion program because the agency is required to propose and take public comments on new program rules under ESSA. Comments for the new competition closed on August of 2018 and the competition will open later this year or in early 2019. Congress knew that ED would need extra time, so FY2018 funds for this program didn’t expire on September 30—ED has until March 2019 to make awards. ED’s “forecast” indicates that the competition for this program will be announced in late November 2018 and applications will be due around the start of the New Year. $120 million is available, and a little more than half of that amount will likely be available for new awards.
If you are trying to meet operational expenses, expand, acquire or renovate your school building, add an athletic department, enhance school safety/security, or buy new technology, complete the online application below and we’ll contact you to set up a meeting. Our team works with you to determine funding and facilities options based on your school’s unique needs.
Charter 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
GET YOUR FREE COPY!
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.
How To Avoid The Top Financial Mistakes Charter Schools Make
If you missed this information-packed webinar on how to avoid the top mistakes charter schools make, don’t despair! We’ve got the recording for you to watch at your convenience. In this webinar, we were joined by some phenomenal charter school leaders from Desert Star Academy, SALTech, and Wayne Preparatory – and they generously and bravely shared the mistakes they’ve made as charter leaders, and of course, how they solved those problems for the future.
Watch the video recording to understand the five mistakes and walk away armed with the tools you’ll need to avoid them.
Our esteemed panelists: Tricia Blum Head of Business Consulting, Charter School Capital
And, to download a printable PDF datasheet, click here.
The Charter Leader’s Definitive Guide to Budgeting Best Practices
Over the past decade, we’ve reviewed thousands of charter school budgets and helped guide countless schools through their charter school financing processes. Year after year, we see many charter schools make the same mistakes when budgeting for the academic year. To help you achieve your goals, we’ve put together this informative and thorough guide to share best practices and call out common pitfalls to avoid.
It covers:
• Planning for long-term financial health
• Implementing best practices for achieving buy-in and setting internal controls
• Understanding key financial metrics to watch
• Utilizing tips on cashflow planning and more!
Download it now and get the tools to be more strategic about your budgeting practices! GET THE RESOURCE
Digital Marketing for Charter Schools: An Actionable Workbook to Help You Achieve Your School’s Goals!
