On Tuesday, President Obama released his budget proposal for funding federal programs in the fiscal year 2015, marking the start of the federal budget and appropriations processes. The budget proposal serves only as a “wish list” from the administration to Congress, and it does not become law.
The president’s budget proposal requests funding for federal programs that benefit charter schools, including the Charter Schools Program (CSP). The CSP provides vital start-up money in order for new charter schools to open. The chart below sums up everything you need to know about the president’s budget proposal for key education programs that affect charter schools.
Department of Education Program
President’s FY 2015 Budget Request
Expanding Educational Options (Charter Schools Program)
$248.1 million
ESEA Title I (Grants to LEAs)
$14,385 billion
IDEA Part B (Grants to States)
$11,573 billion
IDEA, Part C (Preschool)
$353 million
School Improvement Grants (SIG)
$506 million
ESEA Title II (Effective Teachers and Leaders State Grants)
$2 billion
ESEA Title III (English Language Acquisition)
$723 million
Investing in Innovation (i3)
$165 million
In addition to the above education programs, the president’s budget supports two programs that may be of interest to charter schools. First, the president requests continuing the Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) program that provides grants to national nonprofit organizations to support teacher and school leader enhancement projects with evidence of effectiveness. Next, a newly proposed $300 million Race to the Top–Equity and Opportunity (RTTT-Opportunity) program would provide competitive grants to states and school districts to better identify and close “opportunity and achievement gaps” in high-poverty schools, something charter schools have been doing well for decades. Now that the president has released his budget request, it’s up to Congress to move quickly and pass an appropriations bill to provide the resources necessary to support the growing charter schools community. If you haven’t already, be sure to visit our online action center and send a letter to your members of Congress asking them to support an increase in public charter schools funding. Pam Davidson is the senior director of government relations for the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.
