North Carolina is one of eight states to have won a 5-year federal charter school opportunities expansion grant worth $26.6 million.
The other states receiving the grants are Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Idaho, Michigan, and New York.
The Expanding Opportunities through Quality Charter School Program seeks to expand educational opportunities and support for traditionally underserved students who are economically disadvantaged, homeless, students with disabilities, unaccompanied youths, and non-native English speakers.
“I am excited that North Carolina was awarded this highly competitive grant from the Department of Education,” said Dave Machado, director of the Office of Charter Schools at the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. “This grant will help us promote high-quality schools and open more schools in the underserved rural areas of North Carolina.”
“The CSP grant represents an important step forward for the charter school sector in North Carolina,” said Alex Quigley, chairman of the Charter Schools Advisory Board. “This investment will help drive innovation in the important work of ensuring all students in this state have the opportunity to choose an excellent education.”
According to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, the grant funds will be used to:
- Increase the number of educationally disadvantaged students attending high-quality charter schools and expand the number of high-quality charter schools available to educationally disadvantaged students
- Develop a cohort of 100 charter school leaders who can develop and demonstrate best practices in serving educationally disadvantaged students
- Broadly disseminate best practices in serving educationally disadvantaged students and foster collaboration in the charter school community and between charter schools and traditional public schools.
North Carolina’s Advancing Charter Collaboration and Excellence for Student Success (NC ACCESS) will distribute five-year grants of up to $600,000 to 10 schools in 2019.
Over the following four years, 10 schools will receive similar grants each year. Overall, 50 new or existing charter schools will reap the benefits of the Expanding Opportunities through Quality Charter School Program.
As of 2019, North Carolina has 184 charter schools. There are 12 more charter schools planning to open in 2020.
Charters in North Carolina will need to send a letter of intent to apply for a sub-grant by 5 p.m. February 15 and sub-grant applications are due by 5 p.m. March 31.
The State Board of Education will approve and announce the awards in June.
For more information on NC ACCESS including application resources, visit the NC Office of Charter Schools website.
Related resources and documents:
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A.P. Dillon is a reporter at Battleground State News. Follow A.P. Dillon on Twitter. Email Tips to [email protected]
Photo “Success Academy” by Rafael Infante. CC BY-SA 4.0.
