9/28/2017

BETSY DEVOS/EDUCATION: “The federal government is pumping $253 million into the expansion and creation of charter schools, with hopes of helping students in low-income communities.
The U.S. Department of Education on Thursday [9-28-17] announced Charter Schools Program grants. U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos says the funding will provide students with more education options.
Nine state education agencies received about $144.7 million, with the rest going to two state agencies, 17 nonprofit charter management organizations and six other nonprofit groups.
The money will be used in various ways, including for state-level grant competitions to replicate and expand charter schools and provide aid for planning, program design and launching of the schools. It also provides funding to charter management organizations on a competitive basis to enable them to replicate or expand high-quality charter schools.
New this year, some of the grant funding will target credit enhancement for charter schools to enable them to access nonfederal funds to acquire, construct and renovate facilities at a reasonable cost. Acquiring facilities is often a challenge for charter schools.”

-Tawnell D. Hobbs, “U.S. Putting $253 Million Into Charter School Expansion,” The Wall Street Journal online, Sept. 28, 2017 07:18pm