On average, the funding gap between charter schools and traditional schools is 22 percent, or $1,800 per pupil. The average charter school ends up with a total funding shortfall of nearly half a million dollars.
Source: Charter School Funding: Inequity’s Next Frontier
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Stimulus Benefits for Public Charter Schools Explained
Public charter schools are attracting increased attention from the new administration. In his February 24 Congressional Address, President Barack Obama called for expanding federal support for charters. The stimulus bill, known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, offers approximately $115 billion in federal aid for public education. Education Week reporters Alyson Klein and Michele McNeil explain that much of the funding to public charter schools will flow through existing formulas, such as Title I or IDEA, so any public charter school that benefits now from such formulas will share in the stimulus. As long as a public charter school gets money through the state’s funding formula, it will receive money through state stabilization dollars. Its likely that public charter schools will be good candidates for the Education Department's Innovation Fund, awards given for closing the achievement gap. Klein and McNeil report that public charter schools may also be eligible for school bonding monies.
Source: Education Week (subscription required), (03/04/2009)
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Bill Could Force St. Louis Public Schools to Sell Closed Facilities to Public Charter Schools
The St. Louis Public Schools district has six former schools on the market and 15 that have been closed and mothballed, but officials continue to refuse to sell the buildings to the growing public charter school sector. A group of Democrat and Republican legislators are trying to change that and are pushing SB349, a bill that would force the district to sell closed facilities to public charter schools. The legislators hope they can pass the bill this session, but know they are in for a fight. Sen. Robin Wright (D-St. Louis) has said she will fight the bill. Why, she asked, should the Legislature get involved in the St. Louis School Board's business in this case? "(The board is) the property owner," she said. "It's their right."
Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, (03/03/2009)
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Authorization of 25 New Public Charter Schools Allows New York City to Pass its Goal of 100 Charters
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced last month that he has made good on a 2005 campaign promise to double the number of public charter schools in the city. In October 2005, Bloomberg said he would bring the number of public charter schools in the city to 100 by the end of his second term this year. At the time, there were fewer than 50 charters open in the city, and state law allowed only 100 charters altogether. The law changed in 2007 and this fall, more than 100 public charter schools will be open in the city. Last year, students in New York City's public charter schools outperformed students in other public schools around the city. "New York City's charter schools and their students are succeeding-so it's no surprise that parents are demanding more seats in charters," said Mayor Bloomberg. A recent poll shows that 67 percent of registered voters in the city want to see even more public charter schools open.
Source: New York Daily News, (02/16/2009)
Also See
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Worsening Economy Prompts Georgia School Districts to Consider Converting to Public Charter Districts
Georgia's worsening economy has more school districts considering converting entirely to public charter schools to take advantage of the budgeting flexibility that comes with conversion. So far, four public school systems have changed to public charter districts under the 2007 law that made Georgia the third state, along with Florida and California, to allow district conversions. Now more than a dozen districts are interested in converting. The Georgia state school board will consider the latest group of charter applicants in spring 2010.
Source: WXIA, (02/03/2009)
Also See
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