Federal education funding
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a huge new education funding bill for FY 22. The legislation would increase federal education spending by $25 billion a year to more than $65 billion in all. Andrew Ujifusa, assistant editor of EdWeek, provides a timely and helpful analysis of the House bill, and even condenses the complex legislation into a single chart. The helpful chart will show you that there’s more money for most every type of federally-funded education program, except…
Federal fine print
Despite the significant spending increases overall, the House budget manages to reduce the allocation for the federal Charter Schools Program (CSP) grant from $440 million to $400 million per year. Nina Rees, President and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, takes issue with the reduction. Rees also sounds the alarm on another change that could impact charters across the country. The bill would strip funding from public school students “entitled to Title I and IDEA funding of the resources they desperately need if they happen to attend a charter school that has a contract with a private company for certain back office services, regardless of the quality of the school.”
CSP year in review
The National Alliance has recently posted its 2021 Annual Report on the federal CSP program. It includes a look back at the 30 year history of charter schools in the U.S. and provides up-to-date information about CSP grantees and the impact the program has had.
Another step forward
While brick-and-mortar charter schools are still struggling to open their doors against strong resistance in the Mountain State, virtual schools will soon be online there, thanks to a needed update to rules guiding West Virginia’s charter pilot program. These were approved by the state board of education this week.
Recognition
Ohio Connections Academy is celebrating its selection as an Exceptional Charter School in Special Education for 2021, as chosen by the National Association of Special Education Teachers (NASET). This distinction has been bestowed upon only 21 charter schools across the country which met the criteria and have demonstrated truly exceptional dedication, commitment and achievement in the field of special education.
Live event for public school families in Cleveland
The Cleveland Transformation Alliance is hosting a Family Café conversation, in collaboration with Common Ground, on Saturday, July 24th from 10:00 - 11:30 a.m. It is intended to be a safe space for public school families—parents, caregivers, and students—to share their experience of education in the pandemic, discuss the upcoming 2021-2022 school year, and express any concerns they may have about a return from remote learning. The in-person event will be held at Midtown Tech Hive, 6815 Euclid Avenue. All are welcome and the registration page can be found here.
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