MEDIA
CONTACT: Meghan Frick, GaDOE Communications Office, (404) 416-2286, mfrick@doe.k12.ga.us
-Follow
DOE on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram
September
30, 2016 – The
Georgia Department of Education is one of eight state education agencies to
receive a Charter Schools Program (CSP) grant from the U.S. Department of
Education, federal education officials announced today. Georgia will receive
$24,447,230 over the next three years to promote the growth of high-quality
public charter schools. The U.S. Department of Education is recommending a
total of $46,404,184 for Georgia, contingent on future Congressional
appropriations.
The
CSP grant will provide financial assistance for the planning, program design,
and initial implementation of public charter schools. The funds will allow
Georgia to expand the number of seats for students within existing
high-performing schools, implement high-quality charter school authorizing and
accountability, and advance the GaDOE’s work to close achievement gaps and
focus on educationally disadvantaged populations.
“This
grant will support Georgia’s strong commitment to improving student academic
achievement and preparing all students to learn, live, and lead in the future,”
State School Superintendent Richard Woods said. “We’re dedicated to providing
flexibility that expands opportunities for students, both through the expansion
of high-performing public charter schools and through the extension of
increased flexibility to traditional public schools.”
Specifically,
the grant will help the Georgia Department of Education increase the number of
high-quality public charter schools in Georgia, especially among underserved
students in rural and urban settings; improve student outcomes for students
attending charter schools, specifically for educationally disadvantaged students;
and increase the number of educationally disadvantaged students attending
high-quality charter schools. The funds will also allow the GaDOE to increase
support for charter schools and their academic success in working with students
of all backgrounds, including students with disabilities and students of all
racial and economic backgrounds, and ensure compliance with all special
education and civil rights laws.
The
majority of the grant funds will be used to expand the number of high-quality
public charter schools through sub-grants to new charter schools, successful
charter schools (to disseminate best practices), and existing
high-performing charter schools that will substantially expand to provide
additional seats for educationally disadvantaged students.
The
work made possible through the CSP grant will be enhanced by continued
partnerships with the following organizations:
· National Association of Charter School
Authorizers (NACSA): Working with the GaDOE to create an authorizer evaluation
system
· Governor’s Office of Student Achievement
(GOSA): Working with the GaDOE to create data one-pagers on student discipline
and school climate
· Georgia Charter Schools Association (GCSA):
Working with the GaDOE to support schools in the probation process, recruit
leaders and board members in rural areas, and provide school-level support to
strengthen existing charter schools
· Regional Education Laboratory Southeast (REL-SE):
Working with the GaDOE to create an online best practices portal that will be
used to gather, post, and disseminate best practices throughout the Georgia
charter school community and beyond, and increase communication between all
charter school leaders and educators about those practices.
Additionally,
an external evaluator will be used to monitor and evaluate the GaDOE’s
performance and implementation of the CSP grant. Learn more about the CSP grant
program here.