Empower Charter School Educators to Lead Act

Specifically, the bill allows state entities to use up to 5% of their CSP grant funds to make pre-charter planning subgrants to certain prospective charter applicants.

The bill specifies that state entities may also (1) fund a revolving loan fund or similar mechanisms for expenses prior to an eligible applicant receiving reimbursement, and (2) provide assistance to eligible applicants in locating and accessing a charter school facility.

Under the current CSP, state entities must use at least 7% of their CSP grant funds to provide technical assistance to eligible applicants and authorized public chartering agencies. The bill instead allows state entities to use not more than 10% of these funds for technical assistance.

Additionally, under the current CSP, state entities may not use more than 3% of CSP grant funds for administrative costs. This bill raises the cap to 5%.