Charter Schools Miss Out on Federal Funding (CT)
October 1, 2010
A $110 million fe deral aid package received by the state in September is benefiting many of the richest schools in the state, while ignoring others that, in many cases, work with the poorest students who are most in need of the help, a local charter school director said.
The state’s 18 charter schools, 17 technical high schools and some magnet schools were left out of the funding formula because they do not rely on Education Cost Sharing grant funding. Under federal guidelines, charter school are only entitled to federal funding for which their students are eligible, such as Title I and special education money.
Norwich’s Integrated Day Charter School is one of the schools in the state left without funding.
Anna James, director of the school, called Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s decision not to fund charter schools a bad choice.
“She could have given us funding, but she chose not to,” James said, adding that after three years of flat funding by the state, the school will soon begin to lose core personel if something does not change. “It’s a travesty.”
About 32 percent of the school’s 330 students fall below the poverty level, she said.
Thomas Murphy, spokesman for the state Department of Education, defended the governor’s decision.
“The legislation gave the governor only two choices, the Title 1 formula or the main equalized education formula, in our case ECS,” he said.
Federal guidelines gave school districts the flexibility to use the funds to pay for salaries and benefits of teacher and support staff, such as custodians, bus drivers, administrative staff and others. Schools also can use the money to rehire teachers and employees who have been lai d off.
According to James, however, even with Title 1 funding, the school is being left behind.
“That’s about $9,100 per pupil, but the state average is $13,000,” she said. “So, with our percentage of students in need, we still are getting less than more affluent schools.”
Murphy said Rell’s decision on how to distribute the stimulus funds was based on benefiting the highest number of schools and students, but said that other revenue streams for charter schools are being investigated.