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Long-Awaited Public Charter School Grant Competition Announced
Applications are now being accepted by the New Hampshire Department of Education as part of the $46 million public charter school grant program
Concord, NH – The New Hampshire Department of Education is excited to announce the start of the 2020-2021 federal charter school grant competition, which provides competitive grant funds to start new public chartered schools, as well as replicate and expand existing high-quality public chartered schools.
The grant funds, which have been anticipated now for over a year, are being made available as part of the 5-year, $46 million grant award the state received from the U.S. Department of Education in 2019. The program expects to fund the creation of 20 new public chartered schools over the next four years, as well as strengthen the existing charter school oversight infrastructure. The Department initially struggled to gain approval for the funds from the legislative fiscal committee. In December of 2020, when that approval was obtained, the Department then worked with the U.S. Department of Education to obtain approval to proceed with the competitive grant process.
“The funds that are being made available today will support New Hampshire’s continued educational innovation by expanding student access to high-quality chartered public schools” said Nate Greene, Administrator of the Bureau of Educational Opportunities. “Many of our current chartered public schools have long wait lists for student enrollment and these funds will support our state in meeting this demand by providing greater student access, particularly to at-risk and disadvantaged students”.
The grant program will award funds on a competitive basis to approved chartered public schools in the state, with priority funds going to those schools that target disadvantaged and at-risk student populations or who offer highly innovative models for advancing student achievement in a given field. “Every student in New Hampshire deserves a shot at a bright future” said Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut. “This grant will allow us to innovate instruction so that all students can find a pathway to success.”
The application for applying to the 2020-2021 program is available now and applications will be accepted until 4 PM on July 22, 2021, at which point the competition will close and funds will be awarded.
The link to the application can be found below, along with links for more information: