Charter School Millions

The Department of Education has announced that $21.6 million were being given in charter school grants.

“Three organizations—the KIPP Foundation, the Charter School Development Corporation, and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation—will receive a total of $21.6 million for three grants through the Charter Schools Facilities Grants program,” Secretary Spellings announced.

The Department of Education released a preliminary breakdown of the grants. “The KIPP Foundation in San Francisco, Calif., has been awarded a $6.8 million grant; The Charter School Development Corporation in Washington, D.C., has been awarded a $6.6 million grant; The Local Initiatives Support Corporation in New York, N.Y., has been awarded an $8.2 million grant.”

The Department of Education also announced additional grants being given out this year. “Under the department’s Credit Enhancement for Charter Schools Facilities Grant program, seven grants totaling $36.6 million are being provided to organizations in New York; California; Arizona; New Jersey; North Carolina; Washington, D.C.; and Texas.”

Secretary Spellings explained why these grants are important for the continuation of education. “Charter schools are one of the fastest growing sources of school choice in American education today, […] But many can’t obtain financing for the facilities they need to house their schools. These grants will continue to help those who need help obtaining suitable facilities to help expand educational options to parents and students across the nation.”

The purpose of the project, according to the Department of Education, is “to provide grants to public entities and non-profit organizations to enhance the credit of charter schools to obtain facilities.”

Charter schools have started to gain popularity by those in favor of school choice. According to the National Alliance for Charter Schools, there are 3,597 charter schools operating currently in America. There are a total of 1,036,536 students who attend these charter schools.

Students at charter schools are believed to do better academically than their public school counterparts. Analysts say that it is impossible to truly get exact statistics of how much better charter schools are in comparison to local public schools.

Matthew Murphy is an intern at Accuracy in Academia.