Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE): Expanding Opportunity Through Quality Charter Schools Program (CSP): Grants to Charter School Developers for the Replication and expansion of High-Quality Charter Schools CFDA Number 84.282E | ED GRANTS 052220 002

Opportunity Information: Apply for ED GRANTS 052220 002

The Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) grant opportunity under the Expanding Opportunity Through Quality Charter Schools Program (CSP), CFDA 84.282E, is a discretionary U.S. Department of Education grant aimed at helping charter school developers replicate or expand high-quality charter schools. The broader CSP program is designed to increase access to strong public charter school options and, in particular, to expand opportunity for traditionally underserved students so they can attend schools that support them in meeting challenging state academic standards. In practice, this competition is one of the federal tools used to grow the number of proven charter school models, strengthen public education options, and support the early-stage work that is often expensive and difficult to fund through regular operating revenue.

The program’s purposes go beyond simply opening more schools. CSP emphasizes several connected goals: expanding student access to charter schools; providing financial support for planning, program design, and initial implementation; increasing the overall supply of high-quality charter schools nationwide; evaluating charter school impacts on students, families, and communities; sharing effective practices between charter schools and other public schools; encouraging states to provide more facilities support for charter schools; and supporting stronger charter authorizing practices. In other words, this grant is positioned not just as start-up money, but as part of a larger strategy to promote quality, learning, and responsible growth across the charter sector and the public school system more broadly.

This specific competition (84.282E) focuses on replication and expansion of high-quality charter schools, and it sits alongside related CSP developer funding for opening new charter schools (84.282B) and the separate CSP State Entity grant program (84.282A). Developer Grants are awarded competitively, meaning applicants are scored against one another based on the requirements and priorities described in the official Federal Register notice. While the synopsis highlights the intent and major eligibility rules, the detailed requirements such as application components, selection criteria, priorities, performance measures, and submission rules are contained in the official application notice and the Department’s common discretionary grant instructions.

Eligibility is tightly defined. Applicants must be charter school developers that have applied to an authorized public chartering authority to operate a charter school and have provided that authorizer adequate and timely notice, consistent with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) definitions and requirements. The charter school connected to the application must be located in a state that has a state statute specifically authorizing charter schools. In addition, a key restriction is tied to whether the state already has certain CSP funding at the state level. As described, eligibility for this competition is generally limited to developers in states that do not currently have a CSP State Entity grant (84.282A) under the ESEA as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). There is also a special rule for states that have an older CSP State Educational Agency (SEA) grant under the ESEA as amended by No Child Left Behind (NCLB): in those states, developers may only apply for replication and expansion (84.282E), and only if the Department has not approved an amendment to the SEA’s grant that would allow the SEA to make subgrants for replication and expansion. The practical effect is that the Department is trying to avoid duplicating funding pathways and is directing developers to the most appropriate source of CSP support depending on what is already operating in their state.

The notice also clarifies how the Department generally interprets “initial implementation” in terms of school age. As a general rule, charter schools that have been operating for more than five years are considered beyond the initial implementation phase and therefore are not eligible for CSP developer funds to open a new charter school (84.282B) or to replicate a high-quality charter school (84.282E). However, those same schools may still be eligible under 84.282E to expand a high-quality charter school, which signals that expansion funding is treated differently than replication funding when an existing school has a longer operating history.

Another important operational detail is what happens when a developer applies before receiving final authorizer approval. If an applicant has submitted a charter application to an authorized public chartering agency but has not yet been approved, the application for this federal grant must include a dated copy of the charter application that was submitted to the authorizer, along with a clear plan and timeline for when the applicant expects to receive the authorizer’s final decision. The applicant is also expected to clearly identify any proposed budget costs that would be incurred before charter approval is granted. This requirement is meant to make the approval status transparent and to ensure the budget and timeline are credible and compliant.

The opportunity is listed as ED GRANTS 052220 002, administered by the U.S. Department of Education, with an original closing date of June 19, 2020. The synopsis notes that some key award details (like award ceiling and expected number of awards) are not provided in the excerpt, reinforcing the point that applicants need to rely on the official Federal Register notice for complete and authoritative guidance. It also directs applicants to the Department’s “Common Instructions for Applicants to Department of Education Discretionary Grant Programs” (published February 13, 2019) for standardized requirements on how to obtain and submit an application and how to follow federal submission and formatting rules.

• The Department of Education in the education, oz sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE): Expanding Opportunity Through Quality Charter Schools Program (CSP): Grants to Charter School Developers for the Replication and expansion of High-Quality Charter Schools CFDA Number 84.282E" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 84.282.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2020-05-22.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2020-06-19. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for ED GRANTS 052220 002

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