HELP BOOST AWARENESS AND SUPPORT FOR CHARTER SCHOOLS TODAY

The California Charter School Conference starts today! We’re thrilled to be a part of this amazing annual event in its 25th year for a few amazing days of inspiration, connectivity, education, and collaboration—all to support charter schools and the charter school movement! But our efforts continue all year round.
Charter schools help create educational choice. We believe in the power of charter schools and their leaders to deliver quality education to families across the country. And we help by supporting charter school growth. We are 100% dedicated to the charter school space and measure our success by the number of students we serve. Our ultimate goal is to help the charter school movement grow and flourish, and ultimately to be able to serve more students. We take pride in the social impact that we’re supporting by helping charter schools succeed. This is our passion, just as providing a quality education to children in your community is yours. We hope you’ll join us in supporting the California Charter Schools Association’s Discover Charters initiative to help boost awareness and support for charter schools.
Take advantage of their resources to help build confidence among your school staff, teachers and parents so they can effectively advocate for your charter school and the broader movement.

HERE ARE FIVE THINGS YOU CAN DO TO PARTICIPATE

Review the Charter Leader Guide for in-depth tips and ideas.
Customize and print posters. Display them at your school sites with your own school logo.
Download and distribute FAQs with your school communities.
Customize a draft newsletter article and share with your parents and school communities. You can also add this email signature to your parent and community correspondences.
Share social media assets and messages directly across your social media platforms using the hashtag: #DiscoverCharterSchools.

Charter School Capital is committed to the success of charter schools and has solely focused on funding charter schools since the company’s inception in 2007. 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 $1.6 billion in support of 600 charter schools that educate 800,000 students across the country. For more information on how we can help your charter school, contact us!

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Florida’s new funding plan could help relieve some charter school tensions

Editor’s Note: This blog post was originally published On March 8, 2018 here by RedefinED and was written by Travis Pillow. We think it’s vital to keep tabs on the pulse of all things related to charter schools, including informational and legislative resources, and how to support charter school growth. We hope you find this—and any other article we curate—both interesting and valuable.

The budget deal reached between Florida’s House and Senate could ease some tensions between charter schools and districts fighting over last year’s education law. It would also boost overall charter school capital funding.HB 7069 required school districts to provide charter schools an equal per-pupil share of property tax revenue for capital funding.That funding, about $91.2 million, went out to charter schools last month — but not without drama in a few districts. And it’s at the center of two lawsuits challenging the law.Things would change under legislative proposals already passed by both chambers, combined with next year’s state budget.
Late Wednesday night, Sen. Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island and Carlos Trujillo, R-Miami, agreed to their plan for school construction spending. It includes $145.3 million for charter school capital outlay. The House proposed $120.3 million in its initial spending plan, and added an extra $25 million this morning.*
The state would distribute that money to eligible charters to pay for school buildings and other long-term expenses. Right now, about 544 of the state’s nearly 650 charters qualify.
Next year’s statewide total would be more than the $141.2 million charters received this school year. And all of the funding would come from the state. School districts would no longer have to share their local property tax revenue with charters — at least initially.
Under this year’s HB 7055, which has already passed, next year’s state funding level would become a new benchmark for charter school capital outlay. That benchmark would rise each year, to adjust for inflation and enrollment growth. If state funding ever fell below the benchmark, then districts would have to share property tax revenue with charter schools to make up the difference.
And charter school funding would be more equal. Charter schools in districts like Polk, Pasco and Lake Counties don’t receive much local funding under last year’s law. That’s because HB 7069 lets districts set aside funding they need to cover their debt obligations before HB 7069’s revenue-sharing provisions kick in.
In addition, the budget plan would give districts $50 million in state funding to help with their capital expenses.
Local media reports suggest this new funding arrangement may have come about, in part, due to behind-the-scenes advocacy by Miami-Dade County Public Schools, which didn’t join other districts challenging the new law in court.
Whether it can ease the political tensions or legal battles last year’s law provoked remains to be seen.

The Ultimate Guide to Charter School Facility Financing: Straightforward advice on planning, financing options, getting approved, and choosing a partner.
Does finding that perfect facility for your school seem like a huge, complex undertaking? Well, you’re not alone…it’s the greatest challenge faced by charter schools across the country. We understand that most charter school leaders aren’t financial or real estate experts, and for a good reason—you’re focused 100% on educating children. And, you want the best for them. Planning and financing any facility project is complex, time-consuming, and has the potential to distract your team from its core mission: serving your students.
This manual covers our perspectives on the charter school facilities financing landscape market and provides practical and actionable advice on planning and realistically balancing your team’s facility dreams with budget realities. We also cover the four primary funding structures that charter schools use to finance facilities: cash, banks, bonds, and long-term leases. Download this free guide to get all of your facilities questions answered!
In it, you’ll get straightforward, actionable advice on:

Facilities planning
Financing options
Getting approved
Choosing a partner

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Charter schools consistently demonstrate success, even in underserved communities, because of their unique operational framework. Unlike traditional public schools, charter schools operate under a flexibility-for-accountability model that creates powerful incentives for continuous improvement.

The Charter School Success Model

Charter schools are granted operational flexibility in exchange for strict accountability for student outcomes. This framework allows schools to innovate, adapt, and respond quickly to what works best for their specific student populations.

Key Success Elements:

Operational Flexibility: Freedom to design curriculum, staffing, and school culture
Performance Accountability: Transparent academic and financial performance standards
Market Responsiveness: Ability to adapt quickly based on student needs
Innovation Incentives: Motivation to try new approaches that improve outcomes

How Charter Schools Operate Differently

Flexibility Advantages

Charter schools can make rapid changes as they learn what works, while traditional public schools often face regulatory constraints that limit innovation.

Areas of Charter Flexibility:

Curriculum design and instructional approaches
Teacher hiring and professional development
School calendar and daily schedules
Budget allocation and resource management

Accountability Requirements

Charter schools must demonstrate performance across multiple areas to maintain authorization:

Academic achievement and student growth
Financial management and transparency
Organizational stability and governance
Compliance with charter terms and regulations

Schools that fail to meet standards face closure, creating strong improvement incentives.

Charter School Fundamentals

What Makes Charters Unique

Charter schools are independently operated public schools with performance-based contracts. The “charter” details the school’s program, students served, goals, and assessment methods.

Key Distinctions:

Public schools of choice that families actively select
Performance contracts requiring specific academic goals
Freedom to implement innovative educational approaches

Funding and Admissions

Funding: Charter schools receive per-pupil funding based on enrollment, similar to traditional district schools, plus state allocations and federal program funding.

Admissions: Charter schools must maintain open enrollment as public institutions. They cannot discriminate based on academic performance, income, or English proficiency. If oversubscribed, they conduct random lottery admissions.

The Innovation Impact

The flexibility-accountability framework creates a continuous improvement culture where schools constantly evaluate and refine their approaches based on performance data. Charter schools that consistently underperform face closure, making room for more effective educational approaches.

This model represents one of the most significant innovations in public education, demonstrating how operational freedom combined with results-based accountability can drive improved outcomes for students, especially in underserved communities where traditional approaches may not adequately address unique needs.

In this school spotlight, we’re so proud to share how Charter School Capital helped Arizona College Prep Academy (ACPA), an Arizona charter school, finance their growth and expansion by providing the funding to purchase a new facility.

Arizona College Prep Academy

Planning, locating and securing facilities is challenging for most charter schools, as Arizona College Prep Academy in Tucson learned through experience.
The school opened in 1997 as an affiliate of AmeriSchools network and became an independent charter school in 2012. Growing and in need of a new facility, the school administrators were faced with unexpected challenges. Banks would not provide funding because they viewed Arizona College Prep as a new school and therefore a very high risk. Likewise, the school was ineligible for start-up school funds because it was a pre-established charter transfer. In an effort to find the resources they desperately needed, school officials contacted several third-party funding organizations. However, none came through. Enter Charter School Capital, the only organization with both the ability and desire to help.
“It was a blessing to find Charter School Capital,” says Freddy Mendoza, assistant principal at Arizona College Prep. “Working with them has been great. They have been very responsive, very communicative and very much about the school and the kids.” Introduced through the Arizona Charter School Association, the two organizations are happy to celebrate a multi-year partnership. Through this partnership, Charter School Capital has been able to help open doors for Arizona College Prep Academy.

The Challenge

The greatest challenge was finding a facility that met the school’s unique requirements. Most available commercial buildings are too large, too small or don’t meet code specifications for schools. Charter School Capital was able to offer not only financing for the building but expertise in charter school facilities planning as well.
“We couldn’t have even looked at a building like this without Charter School Capital,” says Mendoza. “They made deals available to us that wouldn’t have been otherwise. Once the deal was made, they were critical in helping us understand what we needed to do. Their team made it easy for us.”

The Solution

Charter School Capital provided the financing necessary to purchase the property and now leases that property to Arizona College Prep Academy.
Charter School Capital will retain ownership of the facility, alleviating the need for the school to spend time focused on building repairs and maintenance and instead focus on their mission – educating kids.

“We couldn’t have even looked at a building like this without Charter School Capital.”
~Freddy Mendoza
Assistant Principal, Arizona College Prep Academy

Results

Arizona College Prep will have the option to take ownership of the property in the future but for now, they appreciate the time to focus on their staff and students, making everyone comfortable in their new home and letting the community know the school is open for enrollment.
“Obviously this is a business deal and we look at the numbers but the focus keeps coming back to how we educate these students, which is what we value. Charter School Capital’s process of getting to know our school and what we’re about was great.”

Do you need to expand, renovate, or move your charter school? We’d love to support you. It’s our mission to help you educate more students, so we focus on providing products and services that enable you to meet – and exceed – both your growth and facility goals. When you succeed, we succeed—it’s that simple.

Halfway through the academic year, one of the nation’s largest online charter schools, Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow (ECOT), is closing abruptly, leaving families of the roughly 12,000 Ohio students scrambling to find other schooling options. According to one Marietta Times article, “ECOT students would have to be accepted by their local public school districts, some of which already started preparing for that scenario.”
We can imagine that many students, families, and schools might be in panic-mode as they struggle to figure out what to do in light of the sudden ECOT school closure. Getting students, their transcripts, and other records transferred quickly and efficiently is just one of the challenges being faced. As area schools scramble to help, they may be wondering how they’ll be able to fund this unexpected growth and the costs associated with increased enrollment. This is where Charter School Capital can help. Whether your school is taking on many new students or just a few, we can help fill any funding gap so you can get back to your focus—educating kids.

In order to make sure other charter schools are able to re-home these students, we’re offering flexible funding to Ohio schools to offset the costs of teachers, staff, onboarding, and facilities in order to enroll them. We can secure funding to offset the unexpected costs in as little as 14-30 days to make sure you can serve those students. Let us know how we can help.

Get started by filling out our interest form, emailing us at growcharters@charterschoolcapital.com, or calling our Ohio representative Michelle Godin directly at 971.634.1897.

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EDITORS NOTE: This article was originally published here on January 3, 2018, and was authored by the President of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, Michael J. Petrilli. We think it’s vital to keep tabs on the pulse of educational reform and hope you find this—and any other article we curate—both interesting and valuable.

The 5 Big Educational Reform Stories of 2018

Advertisements for investment funds always say that past performance is no guarantee of future results; in the case of my forecasting skills, that’s probably a good thing. After all, in 2016 I claimed that Donald Trump would never become president, and a year ago I thought that 2017 might be the year of coming back together again. So in the spirit of third time’s a charm, not three strikes and you’re out, here’s what I see coming down the pike in 2018.

NAEP. The release of the National Assessment of Educational Progress results is always big news, but I have a hunch that this one will be bigger than usual. That’s because it’s been a long time since we’ve seen significant progress on the Nation’s Report Card and analysts will consider this round a legitimate indicator of the success or failure of Obama-era reforms. I’ll admit to being worried that gains will be minimal. The headwinds of the 2008 recession and the changing demographic mix of the student population are significant. Still, if states’ higher standards and tougher tests are leading to real changes in the classroom—especially as schools adopt high quality curriculum like Eureka Math—we ought to start seeing a bump soon, at least at the fourth grade level. If not, color me worried. Meanwhile, state-by-state results will give us lots to chew on as well. Will Arizona continue to defy the doubters? Will Tennessee and D.C. continue their climb out of the cellar? And will curriculum-based reform prove its mettle in Louisiana? Stay tuned.
The Janus Supreme Court case. I thought the Friedrichs decision was going to be the big ed reform news a few years ago—until Justice Scalia went and passed away. But its sequel is back, and barring another unforeseen event the forthcoming decision will likely place a significant curb on the fundraising abilities of the teachers unions. A majority of the justices are likely to rule that unions can’t charge “agency fees” to non-members—making it financially advantageous for more teachers to drop out of their union, and allowing non-members to cease paying into it. That’s especially likely for politically conservative teachers, who may be tired of supporting causes with which they disagree. Given that three in ten teachers nationwide voted for President Trump, it’s not hard to imagine the NEA especially losing a significant amount of revenue and clout. That in turn could weaken the relationship between the teachers unions and the Democratic Party, with big pro-reform implications, especially in blue states.
Gubernatorial elections. I’ve given up on the notion that America’s political polarization will come to an end anytime soon. Both parties have too many incentives to play to their bases as the mid-term elections approach. But while the makeup of Congress will only have a marginal impact on education reform going forward, given ESSA’s devolution of power to the states, who wins the races for the governors’ mansions in the thirty-six states with elections this November could have major implications for the years ahead. California is the big prize; can reformers keep the union-endorsed Gavin Newsom from winning? In Colorado, can at least one of the reform candidates—Mike Johnston or Jared Polis—make it through the Democratic primary? Will a Democratic wave election spell doom even for popular, reform-seeking Republicans in deep blue states, namely Charlie Baker (Massachusetts), Larry Hogan (Maryland), and Bruce Rauner (Illinois)? And will reform ideas like accountability and school choice be more or less popular once all the electioneering is done?
School discipline. 2017 ended with a flurry of activity and opining on the issue of school discipline, especially as it relates to Washington’s role in the matter. But while the Trump Administration has started to hear from both sides, it has yet to tip its hand about its intentions. As someone who wants the Obama-era policy on school discipline revised or rescinded, I very much hope we’ll see action on this front in 2018. Not that it’s easy, given the real conundrum involved in addressing racial discrimination without making our schools less safe or jumping to dubious conclusions from raw data on student suspensions. The fact that our president has a proclivity toward making racially divisive statements doesn’t help either.
The first release of school ratings under ESSA. After years of debate and design, this summer will bring the debut of school report cards that reflect the new requirements and flexibility of the Every Student Succeeds Act. The greater focus on student growth versus mere proficiency in most states should make it somewhat likelier for high-poverty schools to get decent grades, but it could also result in many schools in affluent suburbs getting mediocre marks. It’s conceivable that this could spark an ed reform movement among soccer moms. Regrettably, yet another testing backlash is likelier.

So there you have it. Yes, it’s a mixed bag, with only glimmers of good news to look forward to. Then again, the dumpster fire that was 2017 turned out to be surprisingly kind to education reform; here’s hoping that 2018 will do the same.

Overview

This week, the Governor presented his final Californian budget proposal. As he has in the past, the Governor was very cautious about proposing spending on new programs. He also continued to warn about recessions that might be around the corner for Californians. This manifests itself in the budget as an increase in the ‘rainy day’ fund that has been established to protect the state against future economic downturns.
Now that his budget has been introduced, the legislature will begin budget subcommittee hearings on the proposal and then, in early May, the Governor will release the May Revision of his budget to reflect tax receipts and revenue projections. The legislature will then pass a final budget for the Governor’s signature by June 15th. Below are some education highlights from the proposal.
2018-19 Budget Proposal includes:

$135 billion in General Fund revenues
$15 billion total state budget reserves
$78.3 billion Proposition 98 guarantee
$2.9 billion for full implementation of LCFF
$1.8 billion one-time, discretionary funding ($295 per ADA)

For charter schools specifically, the budget proposes an ongoing increase of $28.3 million to the SB 740 Charter School Facility Grant Program. With $112 million in the base, this increase results in about $140 million in ongoing funds in 2018-19.

Proposition 98 and LCFF Implementation

The Department of Finance (DOF) calculates the 2018-19 Proposition 98 guarantee to be $78.3 billion, an increase of $3.8 billion over the 2017-18 Proposition 98 guarantee provided in the 2017 Budget Act. The DOF’s Proposition 98 calculation is a little higher than the $77.8 billion estimate by the LAO in November 2017. Based on revenue growth, the 2017-18 guarantee was increased by $700 million to $75.2 billion, and an additional $3.1 billion was added for 2018-19.
Growth in Proposition 98 allows the Governor to achieve “full implementation” of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) in 2018-19, two years earlier than anticipated when this school funding reform was adopted six years ago. The budget proposes about $2.9 billion to close the remaining LCFF funding gap, including a cost of living adjustment (COLA) of 2.51%. This is welcome news, and schools will now actually receive the LCFF grant amounts (base, supplemental and concentration) calculated by the state rather than merely having those amounts be a “target.”

One-Time Discretionary Funding

Continuing his fiscally conservative approach over the last several years, the Governor avoids any significant on-going expenditures other than for LCFF, and proposes nearly $1.8 billion in discretionary, one-time funding for school districts, county offices, and charter schools. This amounts to about $295 per average daily attendee (ADA). These funds offset any outstanding mandated costs reimbursement claims by local educational agencies.

Special Education and Teachers

Last spring, the DOF held four special education stakeholder discussions, during which stakeholders expressed the need for a number of changes to the current special education system, including: more local transparency and accountability, additional financial support for special education, a shift to a system improving outcomes for students with disabilities, and integrating special education and general education into a cohesive system. However, it appears as if Jerry Brown has decided not to tackle major special education reform in his final year as Governor.
Instead, the Governor proposes $10 million in ongoing Proposition 98 funding for Special Education Local Plan Areas (SELPAs) to work with County Offices of Education (COEs) to provide technical assistance to Local Education Agencies (LEAs) to improve student outcomes. The proposal also places additional requirements on SELPAs, requiring them to complete a SELPA local plan template that aligns their services and resources with the goals in their member districts’ Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAPs) and to summarize how a SELPA’s planned expenditures and services align with the improved student outcomes strategies include in their SELPA plan.
To help address the state’s need for more special education teachers, the Governor has also provided $50 million for a Teacher Residency Grant Program to support locally sponsored, one-year clinical teacher preparation programs aimed at preparing and retaining special education teachers; and another $50 million for a Local Solutions Grant Program to provide competitive grants to LEAS to support locally identified solutions (new or existing) that address a local need for special education teachers, for a total of $100 million in one-time Proposition 98 funding.

Early Learning and Child Care Access

Aimed at increasing early education and case access for children aged zero to five years old, especially in low-income areas and areas with relatively low access to care, the Governor proposes to create the Inclusive Early Expansion Program. This competitive grant program would be funded using $125 million in one-time Proposition 98 funding and $42.2 million one-time federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program funding.
In the 2016 Budget Act, the Governor and Legislature entered into a multi-year agreement that included reimbursement rate increases and additional full-day State Preschool slots for the next three years. As part of the third and final year of that agreement, the Governor has provided an approximately 2.8% reimbursement rate increase for providers that contract directly with the California Department of Education and added the scheduled increase of 2,959 full-day slots to the State Preschool Program. The Budget also makes permanent the temporary hold harmless to the 2016 Regional Market Reimbursement Rate Survey for those providers accepting vouchers.

Earlier this month, Los Angeles charter school leaders won changes to the rules under which they operate, via the Los Angeles Unified School District. The full list of rule changes can be found in a great summary article by the LA Times. But I wanted to dive deeper into the rule change on charter schools residing in Proposition 39 space, the benefits of this change, but the challenges those schools still face.

RULE REMOVED:

Agreements that allow charters to use available space on campuses “shall be limited to one school year” and separate multiyear agreements “shall not exceed five years.”

These limits have now been removed, which could allow charters to become permanent fixtures on district campuses they are using.

This is great news for charter schools residing in Proposition 39 space. The law had previously stated that charters using available space on campuses “shall be limited to one school year” and the maximum amount of those stays “shall not exceed five years”. This type of language has caused a lot of stress on charters over the years by forcing them to re-apply each year for the same space they had the year before. Not only was this process time consuming but it had a deeper impact of creating doubt in the leaders of the school, the parents of the students, and even the students themselves. Would they have that same space or would they be moving to something completely different the following year?
Often times charter schools were happy with the existing space only to find out that they would be moved the following year to a new location, sometimes many miles away. The impact of these moves forced some parents and students to leave the charter to attend a school in closer proximity to where they lived while forcing others that wanted to stay in the program to have longer commutes to school each day. This ripple effect often impacted the enrollment numbers for charters causing strain on their finances as well. Now, charters will have the ability to have long term agreements in the district provided space which is a big relief for many charters across the LA Unified School District.
Unfortunately, the question around the length of the agreements still does not solve all of the problems that come along with utilizing the space the the district may provide. There is an old adage that “you get what you pay for” and this certainly applies to some of the frustrations that come along with Prop 39.
As referenced in the article, “the law that states that districts must make classrooms and other campus facilities available for charters in a way that is “reasonably equivalent” to what is provided to traditional schools.” In practice, I’ve found that although these schools have classrooms on a district facility, there have been concerns to consider:

They lacked equitable parking spaces, access to labs, access to open space and playgrounds, without negotiating times and adjusting schedules with the district school they co-located with.
Charter schools were often put in a corner of a campus in portables.
Although maintenance crews were provided the number of hours would often be limited to the extent that cleaning crews would have around 5-10 minutes per classroom for cleaning.
This setup can cause confusion for parents, students, and teachers regarding use of space and a feelings of unwelcome.
There are also safety concerns in these situations particularly when students of different grade levels may be placed on the same campus.

The political battle between district schools and charters is long standing and ongoing, so to think that the leaders of these schools do not face daily challenges of maneuvering through the political battle in these situations would be a misconception. Although the rent may be cheap, these living conditions certainly don’t make the charter schools feel like they are at home. This is why so many charter schools seek to find their own space through bonds, mortgages, and long term leases. It is the only true way they can create a permanent home in the community, develop their model of learning and grow their student populations in a safe, welcoming environment.
If you have questions about transitioning your school out of a Prop 39 space, you can contact me directly at reldridge@charterschoolcapital.com.

JOIN OUR WEBINAR THIS THURSDAY!
How can social media impact your school’s brand, enrollment efforts and communications to your community? Are you up-to-date on the latest social media platforms and best practices for reaching your target audiences? How’s your overall post engagement looking?

Join our VP of Marketing, Kim Brater and the Founder of barber&hewitt, Michael Barber, as they talk about how to amp up your school communications in our exclusive webinar. Learn tactics that will help your school select the right social media networks to reach parents, students and advocates.