November 9, 2005
Schools Chief Jack O'Connell Announces
New Grants for Charter Schools
SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell today announced the award of new funding to develop and open charter schools in California.
"This funding will help open the doors for high-quality charter school programs," O'Connell said. "By supporting the development of high-quality charter schools and holding them accountable for improving student achievement, we provide an important choice for students currently attending low-performing schools in their local area."
At today's meeting, the State Board of Education (SBE) awarded 69 grants totaling $22,999,687 under the federal Public Charter Schools Grant Program.
Sixty-five grants were awarded to fund new charter schools in California to assist them with initial start up costs. Four additional grants were awarded to existing high-quality charter schools to disseminate their best practices to both charter and traditional public schools.
Eighty percent of the charter school programs that will receive the grant funding will serve students in areas in which the traditional local school is low performing. The grant criteria require that all the schools receiving the funding pursue accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and that they participate in California's testing program to ensure accountability for improved student achievement.
Grantees were selected through a competitive application and review process.
Grants from the first cycle of this three-year, $81 million grant program were awarded last March. At that time, the SBE awarded 85 grants totaling approximately $31 million. The third year of funding will commence on June 1, 2006.
To view a list of the charter school programs awarded funding, please see: Funding Results: Public Charter Schools.
California currently has more than 500 charter schools. O'Connell created the first-ever Charter School Division in 2003 within the California Department of Education (CDE) to put an even greater emphasis on the role of charter schools in the state. More information regarding the Public Charter Schools Grant Program, administered by the CDE, can be found at Charter Schools - Specialized Programs.
