Charter Schools Program Grants to Charter Management Organizations for the Replication and Expansion of High-Quality Charter Schools (CMO Grants)

What’s New

Second FY 2024 CMO Grants Competition Opened

On May 3, 2024, the U.S. Department of Education’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Expanding Opportunity Through Quality Charter Schools Program (CSP) – Grants to Charter Management Organizations for the Replication and Expansion of High-Quality Charter Schools (CMO Grants) program published a Notice Inviting Applications (NIA) in the Federal Register.

The NIA can be accessed here. The Department plans to award an estimated $92 million for new CMO grants this fiscal year. The deadline for submission of a grant application under this competition is 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern Time on June 27, 2024.

For more information about this competition, eligibility, and pre-application webinars, please visit the FY 2024 CSP CMO Grants Competition and Applicant Information and Eligibility webpages.

For information about previous awards, please visit the Awards webpage.

Program Description

The major purposes of the CSP are to:

• Expand opportunities for all students, particularly for children with disabilities, English learners, and other traditionally underserved students, to attend charter schools and meet challenging State academic standards;
• Provide financial assistance for the planning, program design, and initial implementation of charter schools;
• Increase the number of high-quality charter schools available to students across the United States;
• Evaluate the impact of charter schools on student achievement, families, and communities;
• Share best practices between charter schools and other public schools;
• Aid States in providing facilities support to charter schools;
• Support efforts to strengthen the charter school authorizing process; and
• Support quality, accountability, and transparency in the operational performance of all authorized public chartering agencies, including State educational agencies (SEAs) and local educational agencies (LEAs).

The CSP CMO Grant program is authorized under Title IV, Part C of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESEA) (20 U.S.C. 7221-7221j). Through CSP CMO Grants, the Department awards grants to charter management organizations (CMOs) on a competitive basis to enable them to replicate or expand one or more high-quality charter schools. Grant funds may be used to significantly increase the enrollment of, or add one or more grades to, an existing high-quality charter school or to open one or more new charter schools or new campuses of a high-quality charter school based on the educational model of an existing high-quality charter school. Charter schools that receive financial assistance through CSP CMO Grants provide elementary or secondary education programs, or both, and may also serve students in early childhood education programs or postsecondary students, consistent with the terms of their charter.