Federal charter school grants announced

State Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster announced $3.9 million in federal funding to support a second round of charter school grants for planning, start-up, and dissemination activities during the 2006-07 school year.

“These charter grants will reach students at all grade levels, from 4-year-old kindergarten through high school, with programming to serve children’s diverse needs,” Burmaster said. “We support grants for charter schools that are planned and operated to fill the needs of the local community and provide an educational program that boosts learning for all students and helps close the achievement gap.”

Last year, Wisconsin received a $52 million, three-year federal competitive grant to expand the number of charter schools. This second round of grants for the 2006-07 school year provides funding for:

• Twenty-two planning grants, totaling $220,000, to help plan new charter schools;
  
  
• Four implementation grants, totaling $600,000, for first-year operations of new charter schools;
  
  
• Sixteen implementation renewal grants, totaling $2,351,500, for charter schools in the second year of operation; and
  
  
• Five dissemination renewal grants, totaling $750,000, for experienced charter schools to create and share a product or provide a service that can be used to adopt the charter school’s program or certain aspects of the program to expand charter schools in Wisconsin. Schools must be, at minimum, in their fourth year of successful operation to qualify for dissemination grants.

Charter schools are public schools that are accountable to their authorizing agency for performance measures included in the charter contract. Charter schools must employ licensed teachers, involve parents, administer statewide tests, and comply with federal regulations that govern all public schools.

Last updated on 12/18/2006