Yesterday, the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) announced the winners of the spring 2018 round of federal Charter School Program (CSP) Startup and Replication/Expansion grants. The seven winners are below.
In 2012, MDE received $28 million from the United States Department of Education (USDE) to be used over the course of five years for grants to charter schools in the state. After the spring 2016 round of CSP grants and the five year grant period ended, MDE had about $12 million in grant money remaining. In December 2016, MDE received a one-year, no cost extension from USDE for the CSP program.
In September 2017, MDE was awarded another five-year, $45.8 million CSP grant from USDE.
This grant was part of the first cohort of CSP grants awarded under the 2015 federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Specifically, Minnesota was one of nine state education agencies to win a CSP grant, out of 22 that applied. Relatedly, seventeen charter management organizations, which are nonprofit groups that run networks of charter schools, won CSP grants.
The CSP program consists of two grants—Startup and Replication/Expansion. The Startup Grant is intended for charter schools that are in development or in their first two years of operation. The award ranges from $100,000 to $225,000 each year for up to three years. In order to be eligible for the grant, the charter school must be approved by an authorizer and obtain a new charter school "affidavit" from MDE.
The Replication/Expansion Grant is for charter schools that plan to significantly expand or replicate, serve at least 200 students, and are also identified by the MDE as “high-quality”. The high-quality designation is based on multiple measures of a school’s operational, academic, and financial performance.
Like the Startup Grant, the Replication/Expansion grant award ranges from $100,000 to $225,000 each year for up to three years, with the first year intended for planning and the other two years for carrying out the expansion.
Each year, MDE carries out two grant cycles. The next application cycle will be in the Fall 2018.
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