Charter School Programs State Educational Agencies (SEA)

What’s New

On December 7, 2017, CSP notified all grantees of the extended deadline of December 22, 2017 for application amendment requests under the November 15, 2017 Dear Colleague Letter.

On November 15, 2017, OII issued a “Dear Colleague Letter” (DCL) inviting grantees to submit requests to amend approved grant applications to include new activities. The Department is providing this expedited opportunity for grants awarded prior to 2017 and operating under the ESEA, as amended by the NCLB.

On September 28, 2017, the U.S. Department of Education awarded approximately $144.7 million in new grants to nine State Entities under the FY 2017 Charter School Programs State Entities competition. The investments will enable them to run state-level grant competitions to support approximately 445 new, replicating and expanding public charter schools.

In December 2015, the State entities grant program was reauthorized under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA) (20 U.S.C. 7221-7221j). The first State entities grant competition will be held in FY 2017. Please click HERE for more information on the State entities grant program.

In FY 2016 the U.S. Department of Education (Department) awarded approximately $142 million in new grants to six states under the State Educational Agencies competition. For more information about these awards and other past competitions, visit the Awards page.

Program Description

The purpose of the CSP is to increase the national understanding of the charter school model by (1) expanding the number of high-quality charter schools available to students across the Nation by providing financial assistance for the planning, program design, and initial implementation of charter schools, and (2) by evaluating the effects of charter schools, including their effects on students, student academic achievement, staff and parents.

The Secretary awards grants to SEAs on a competitive basis to enable them to conduct charter school programs in their States. SEAs use their CSP funds to award subgrants to non-SEA eligible applicants in their State. These subgrants are used for two primary purposes: (1) planning, program design, and initial implementation of new charter schools; and (2) dissemination of information, including best practices, by charter schools open at least three consecutive years with demonstrated success in several areas, as specified by statute.

For more information on eligible SEAs, please click here.