Federal grant funding new charter schools

The U.S. Department of Education has awarded New York State more than $113 million in grants to create new charter schools for "high-needs" students.

The money will be doled out during each of the next five years.

Tom Dunn, a spokesman for the state Board of Education, said the bulk of the money will be used to fund new charter schools and assist expansion of existing schools, including those that are adding grades.

It was unclear how many new charter schools -- public schools that operate free of many of the regulations that govern traditional schools -- could be funded with the grant.

New York had 170 charter schools in the 2010-2011 school year, state officials said, mostly in large, low-income, urban areas.

There are four charters on Long Island -- Academy Charter School and Evergreen Charter School, both in Hempstead; Riverhead Charter School in Riverhead; and the Child Development Center of the Hamptons Charter School in Wainscott.

Federal officials said the purpose of the grant is to build new charter schools, disseminate best practices for those schools and replicate existing high-quality programs, among other goals.

Cynthia Proctor, spokeswoman for the SUNY Charter Schools Institute, said the money will help the two groups responsible for authorizing new charters -- the state Board of Regents and the SUNY board of trustees -- to better collaborate.

"It's wonderful news," Proctor said of the grant. "Part of that increased collaboration helps to ensure that we are both at the top of our game and really allows us to communicate best practices to the public education community."

Alex Medler, vice president of research and evaluation with the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, said the federal grant money will help the state open quality schools.

"It is really important that charter schools get help meeting their start-up expenses, which is often their biggest obstacle," he said. "They use it to buy their books, desks and computers."

Medler said there are roughly 5,300 charter schools throughout the country, serving 1.6 million students.

State Education Commissioner John B. King Jr. said in a statement that the money "will help us turn around our lowest performing schools and replicate what we know works in successful charter and district schools."

New York's grant, for fiscal years 2011-2016, is $28,259,451 in the first year; $22,575,043 the second year; $22,575,043 the third year; $20,800,097 the fourth year; and $19,133,431 the fifth year.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan approved the state's request for a five-year grant term, Dunn said. The grants normally are given in three-year terms.Since creation of the state's first charter schools in 1999, New York has received nearly $83.8 million in federal funds aimed at establishing or expanding charter schools, according to the state Education Department.