Under the FY 2020 Charter Schools Program (CSP) State Entities Competition, the U.S. Department of Education (Department) awarded grants to eight states. Authorized under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) (20 U.S.C. 7221-7221j), the CSP State Entities Program is a competitive grant program that enables State entities to award subgrants to eligible applicants in their State. The program’s purpose is to “expand opportunities for all students, particularly traditionally underserved students, to attend charter schools and meet challenging State academic standards; provide financial assistance for the planning, program design, and initial implementation of public charter schools; increase the number of high-quality charter schools available to students across the United States; evaluate the impact of charter schools on student achievement, families, and communities; share best practices between charter schools and other public schools; encourage States to provide facilities support to charter schools; and support efforts to strengthen the charter school authorizing process.”
On September 30 2020, the New Jersey Public Charter Schools Association (NJPCSA) was awarded a competitive five-year CSP grant to administer a subgrant program that will pursue the following two overarching objectives:
(1) Increase the number of high-quality charter schools statewide; and
(2) Increase the overall quality of NJ’s charter school sector.
CSP grants awarded by NJPCSA through its New Jersey CSP Grant program are federally funded under the US Department of Education CSP State Entities Grant (CFDA number 84.282A) and are subject to the availability of funds through the CSP. Additional federal guidance and related documents are available at the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education webpage for “Expanding Opportunities through Quality Charter School Programs (CSP) Grants to State Entities.”
In carrying out these objectives, New Jersey Public Charter Schools Association will provide subgrants to qualified charter school developers to provide financial support for the initial implementation of opening, expanding, or replicating a public charter school.