These NC charter schools will get $17 million to serve more low-income students
Thirty-four North Carolina charter schools will share in $17.4 million in federal grant money to attract more economically disadvantaged students into their campuses.
The U.S. Department of Education gave North Carolina $36.6 million to increase the number of “educationally disadvantaged students” attending charter schools. The State Board of Education awarded nearly half of that money this week to 34 charter schools that have agreed to take steps such as giving selection priority to applications from low-income students.
“When you look at the names of the schools on this list, they are some of strongest, most mature, established schools that have totally committed to increasing the diversity in their schools,” Dave Machado, director of the state Office of Charter Schools, told the state board this week.
Three charter schools in Wake County were on the list: Cardinal Charter Academy - Wendell Falls, Torchlight Academy and Wake Preparatory Academy.
Six charter schools in Mecklenburg County received grant money: Bradford Prep, Huntersville Charter, Lakeside Charter Academy, Queen City STEM, Sugar Creek Charter and Telra Institute.
Oak Charter Academy in Durham also received money. It’s among several new charter schools scheduled to open in 2021 that received funding.
Each school will receive between $300,000 and $900,000 over the next five years.
Charter schools are taxpayer-funded schools that are exempt from some of the rules that traditional public schools must follow, such as participating in the federal school lunch program and providing transportation for students.
Charter schools have fewer low-income students
North Carolina charter schools on average don’t serve as many low-income students as traditional public schools. But advocates say the true number of low-income students is under-counted in charter schools because most schools aren’t in the national school lunch program.
North Carolina won a five-year, $26.6 million grant in 2018 “to support a significant increase” in the educationally disadvantaged student population in charter schools. The federal government added $10 million to the grant last year.
Some of the grant money is being used to train charter-school leaders on the best ways to serve educationally disadvantaged students. But the bulk of the grant money is meant for individual charter schools to expand the number of disadvantaged students they serve.
Schools must show a plan for recruiting these students, educating them and providing them services such as lunch and transportation. They must also give application priority to low-income students in what’s called a “weighted lottery.”
Machado said 30% of the state’s charter schools will now use weighted lotteries. Most schools started using weighted lotteries when the grant money became available.
Some state board members raised concerns about holding schools accountable. Machado said his office can slow down or stop the money if individual schools aren’t showing they’re doing enough to meet their targets.
This story was originally published August 7, 2020 at 3:33 PM with the headline "These NC charter schools will get $17 million to serve more low-income students."
