Charter School Leadership (US)

September 29, 2010

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today announced the award of 5 Charter Schools Program 2010 National Leadership Activities grants, totaling $3.5 million to non-profit organizations for projects of national significance to improve charter school quality across the country.

“Charter schools have an important role to play in the overall strategy of successful school reform," said Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. "These grantees will address national issues important to charter schools and disseminate information about policies and practices, which provide the best charter school options for students.”

The Administration will invest more than $256 million this year to assist in the planning and implementation of public charter schools and dissemination o f their successful practices through the Charter Schools Program. President Barack Obama’s fiscal year 2011 budget request includes a $54 million increase in the Charter Schools Program, providing $310 million and representing another step toward meeting the administration’s commitment to double financial support for the program during the President’s term.

The purpose of the Charter Schools Program is to increase financial support for the startup and expansion of these public schools, build a better national understanding of the public charter school model, and increase the number of high-quality public charter schools across the nation.

More information about the Charter Schools Program is available from the Education Department’s Office of Innovation and Improvement at: www.ed.gov/programs/charter/index.html.