Department of Education
Kevin Huffman, Commissioner

The Tennessee Department of Education is now in the fourth year of a five year federal Charter Schools Program (CSP) grant. The grant ends in July 2014. Tennessee recently awarded $3,600,000 in planning and implementation grant funds to twelve authorized charter schools to use in 2012-13 and 2013-14. Grants are awarded through a peer reviewed competition.

The department anticipates running competitions in February and August 2013. The February competition will be for schools authorized in the October 2012 cycle, planning to open in 2013. Those schools may apply for up to $300,000, to be used in school years 2012-13 (planning period) and 2013-14 (implementation).

The August competition will be for schools authorized in the April 2013 cycle, planning to open in 2014. for planning grants for schools authorized to open in 2014. Those schools may apply for $150,000, to be used during the planning period ending July 31, 2014.

The U.S. Dept. of Education may or may not have additional grant funds that Tennessee could apply for when our current grant ends in July 2014.

The U.S. Dept. of Education’s entire budget allocated to charter school programs has shrunk in recent years. At the same time, the Department has been offering more grants directly to charter schools and networks, as well as to national foundations supporting the growth of charter schools. In Tennessee, charter school sponsors may be able to apply for several different grants, such as these:

• Replication grants from the U.S. Dept. of Ed., available to individual schools.
• Awards from the Tennessee Charter School Growth Fund.
• Investing in Innovation (i3) grants. The Achievement School District has several of these grants to award.

In addition, there are many more organizations investing in promising or successful charter school programs (e.g., the Tennessee Charter School Incubator, Partners for Developing Futures).

Applications for Charter School Program (CSP) Funding

	NECESSARY DOCUMENTS	DEADLINE
Application Documents	Planning & Implementation (PLIMP) Grant Application 2012	TBD, 2013
	Planning & Implementation (PLIMP) Budget 2012	TBD, 2013
	Planning & Implementation (PLIMP) Scoring Rubric 2012	TBD, 2013
Reconciliation Documents	Reimbursement Instructions (2012)
	Itemized Expense Documentation
	Reimbursement Request Form