This bill makes changes to the Charter Schools Program (CSP), which authorizes competitive grants to state entities (e.g., state educational agencies and state charter school boards) to support high-quality charter schools.
Specifically, the bill allows state entities to use up to 5% of their CSP grant funds to make pre-charter planning subgrants to certain prospective charter applicants.
The bill specifies that state entities may also (1) fund a revolving loan fund or similar mechanisms for the expenses of eligible applicants prior to receiving CSP subgrants, and (2) provide assistance to eligible applicants in locating and accessing a charter school facility.
Under the current CSP, state entities must use at least 7% of their CSP grant funds to provide technical assistance to eligible applicants and authorized public chartering agencies. The bill instead allows state entities to use not more than 10% of these funds for technical assistance.
