Charter Schools Grants
Tennessee is in the third year of a five year federal Charter School Program (CSP) grant. The grant ends in July 2014. Each year of the grant, the State Department of Education has approximately $4,000,000 to award in a competitive process, for planning and implementation of authorized charter schools. Full details on the grants are included in the application materials, below.
The growth of Tennessee charter schools has been more rapid than anticipated when the State applied for the grant. The CSP allocation for 2011-12 has already been obligated in implementation year grants to 20 operating schools and planning year grants for 4 of the schools authorized to open in 2012.
Most of the allocation for 2012-13 has also been obligated to fund 18 implementation grants. And part of the 2013-14 allocation has been obligated to cover 4 implementation grants.
Tennessee has applied for a supplement for fiscal year 2011-12, to be able to make some additional planning year grants for schools scheduled to open in Fall 2012. But, there is no guarantee that the State will receive a supplement for this year, or be able to offer additional grants until 2013.
The U.S. Dept. of Education’s entire budget allocated to charter school programs has shrunk in recent years. At the same time, the Department has been offering more grants directly to charter schools and networks, as well as to national foundations supporting the growth of charter schools. In Tennessee, charter school sponsors may be able to apply for several different grants, such as these:
- Replication grants from the U.S. Dept. of Ed., available to individual schools.
- Awards from the Tennessee Charter School Growth Fund.
- Investing in Innovation (i3) grants. The Achievement School District has several of these grants to award.
In addition, there are many more organizations investing in promising or successful charter school programs (e.g., the Tennessee Charter School Incubator, Partners for Developing Futures).
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| Application Documents |
Planning & Implementation (PLIMP) Grant Application 2011  |
TBD, pending availability of funds |
| Planning & Implementation (PLIMP) Budget 2011  |
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| Planning & Implementation (PLIMP) Scoring Rubric 2011 |
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| Reconciliation Documents |
Reconciliation Documentation Guidance 2011 |
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| Reconciliation Documentation Form for Itemizing Reconcilication or Reimbursement Requests |
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| Reimbursement Request |
Governor Bill Haslam
