Empower Charter School Educators to Lead Act

Right now, federal grants for charter schools mostly go toward opening and expanding schools. This bill would change the program to also fund pre-charter planning — giving up to $100,000 in subgrants to school developers who are still in the design phase, before they've even applied for a charter. To qualify, the lead developer must be an educator with at least 54 months of school-based experience. The bill also adjusts how grant money is divided, dedicating up to 5 percent for these planning grants and up to 10 percent for technical assistance, while shifting 80 percent (down from 90) to direct school support.