Empower Charter School Educators to Lead Act
Empower Charter School Educators to Lead Act would revise the federal grant program that supports high-quality charter schools (under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act). The bill expands the role of federal funding to provide more technical assistance and state-level capacity-building for charter authorizers, adds a pathway for early planning support, and strengthens the emphasis on educator leadership in charter school development. It also introduces new funding mechanics—such as a potential revolving loan fund and a dedicated portion reserved for pre-charter planning—to help charter developers get started and to improve oversight and fiscal management by authorizers. In practical terms, the bill aims to improve the quality and oversight of charter schools by empowering educator-led charter developers, offering upfront planning funding, and ensuring state and local entities have better tools and resources to support, authorize, and oversee charter schools.
Key Points
- 1Expanded technical assistance and authorizer capacity building: The bill requires the program to provide technical assistance to eligible applicants and to authorized public chartering agencies, with a focus on improving authorizing quality and fiscal oversight/auditing of charter schools.
- 2State-level financing tools and facilities help: At the state entity’s discretion, the bill would allow funding for a revolving loan fund or similar mechanisms to cover upfront expenses before reimbursements, and provide assistance to applicants in locating and accessing a facility.
- 3New pre-charter planning subgrants: The bill creates pre-charter planning subgrants (up to $100,000 per prospective applicant) for educator-led charter developers who plan to operate a charter school and meet leadership criteria, including a completed initial plan describing community needs and how the school would meet them.
- 4Educator-led eligibility criteria: To be eligible for the pre-charter planning subgrants, the developer must be led by educators with at least 54 months of school-based experience and demonstrated leadership competencies and success with students, as determined by the State entity.
- 5Funding allocations and reserves: The bill changes how funds are allocated among program activities (e.g., 80% for certain core activities, up to 10% for other purposes, and a new allowance to reserve up to 5% to carry out pre-charter planning activities under subsection (b)(3)).