WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies approved its Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 spending bill. While providing funding increases for a number of education programs—including Title I and IDEA—that are critical to public charter schools and the students who attend them, the bill calls for a 9 percent, or $40 million, reduction in funding for the Charter Schools Program (CSP) for FY2020.
National Alliance President and CEO Nina Rees released the following statement:
“We are disappointed in the committee’s decision to cut funding for the CSP, which, in many instances, serves as the sole funding stream to help launch new public charter schools and support the expansion of existing, high-performing charter schools. Today, there are five million students who want to attend a charter school but cannot because space in one is not available to them. CSP funding is critical to ensuring that this gap is closed.
We are hopeful that as the process moves forward the funding will be restored and the hopes and dreams of children who want to attend charter schools will be prioritized and protected.”
