Federal officials: Ritz erred with charter school funding cuts

But the federal government has not tracked how its dollars have been used by charter schools, nor has it studied their academic performance.

For Scott Given, the founder of the UP Education Network, which operates five charter schools in Massachusetts, the $2.2 million grant means his chain can grow to 20 schools by 2020.

“A spokesman for the Indiana department, Daniel Altman, told the Indiana Business Journal that the fault lies with charters for submitting incorrect data, and also criticized Messer and Rokita for what he said was taking political advantage of the situation.” . This is more than one point lower than the citywide public school average reading proficiency, now 30.4 percent. If families don’t complete the surveys and indicate their income, they don’t get counted.

Jobs advertised in city charter schools typically pay well over the $44,000-a-year ceiling, and a partial review of charter school tax filings show a total of more than 100 staffers making over $100,000 per year. “They don’t do that for charter schools because charter schools don’t have a geographic boundary”. In particular, the department is asking about the calculation of Title I funds for charter schools “in light of an overall reduction of Title I dollars and a significant decrease in the Census Poverty Count for several charter schools”, according to a statement. The reason for the school is for students to connect with real world learning.

“State Superintendent Glenda Ritz’s department did not base Title I funding for charter schools on the prior year’s funding as the law requires, federal officials said”. “At the same time, some traditional public school systems, like Indianapolis Public Schools, for example, received an additional $1.5 million in Title I funds despite a decline in enrollment”. Some had fund balances more than double that of their budget, enough to operate the school for at least another year. Schools rely on local districts for funding, and charters are being forced to draw from reserve funds.

The U.S. Department of Education notified the state agency last week that “corrective action. will likely be required”.

The NJCSA said limiting charter schools’ fund balance would threaten their viability.

“I am pleased to see the IDOE is now seeking assistance from the federal Education Department”, Dahncke said in an email. Instead, when a student leaves his or her home district for a charter school, the school receives a portion of the district’s per-pupil expenses. The department’s statement also said extra federal aid available to schools in years past might have masked previous cuts.

“The Charter School Law does not permit school districts to withhold funding from charter schools in the absence of a state budget”, said Tim Eller, executive director of the Keystone Alliance for Public Charter Schools.