YourVoice.Now Summary
Transparency & AccountabilityEducators could get up to $100,000 to plan a new charter school — with a smaller share of grants left for opening them.
Transparency & Accountability
Today states must spend at least 7% of their charter grant on helping applicants and checking on charter schools. The bill removes that minimum and sets a 10% limit instead, so a state could spend more on this work, or much less.
State rules on what grant money may pay for, and the state's promise to check that it is spent right, were written for grants that open schools. The bill keeps those rules tied to that older money, so they do not reach the new planning grants.
More about this bill
Most families would see no change at their own school. A federal program that helps new charter schools open would be reworked. Educators with at least 54 months in schools would gain new planning money. A team they lead could get up to $100,000 to plan a charter school. That money would arrive before they ever apply to open one. States could also lend applicants money for early costs. They could help them find a building, too. To make room, the grant money would be split a new way. Today states must put at least 90% of their charter grant into opening or expanding schools. That share would fall to 82%. Up to 5% could go to the new planning grants. Money set aside to help applicants and audit charter schools would shift from a 7% minimum to a 10% cap.
Congressional Summary
This bill makes changes to the Charter Schools Program (CSP), which authorizes competitive grants to state entities (e.g., state educational agencies and state charter school boards) to support high-quality charter schools. Specifically, the bill allows state entities to use up to 5% of their CSP grant funds to make pre-charter planning subgrants to certain prospective charter applicants.The bill specifies that state entities may also (1) fund a revolving loan fund or similar mechanisms for the expenses of eligible applicants prior to receiving CSP subgrants, and (2) provide assistance to eligible applicants in locating and accessing a charter school facility.Under the current CSP, state entities must use at least 7% of their CSP grant funds to provide technical assistance to eligible applicants and authorized public chartering agencies. The bill instead allows state entities to use not more than 10% of these funds for technical assistance.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Action Date
- Date Added
- 2026-04-02
- Source
- Congress.gov →
Like reading a bill in plain English?
We're building an app that does this for every bill in Congress and lets you tell your reps how you want them to vote. We're a small team getting ready to launch, and we're trying to show investors that real people want this. Be one of them. Help us get it built. Leave your email and we'll tell you the moment the app is ready.