Columbia, S.C. – State Superintendent of Education Molly M. Spearman announced that South Carolina will receive a new grant award of more than $30 million over the course of the next five years from the U.S. Department of Education’s Charter Schools Program.  The funding will be used to expand existing public charter schools and open new ones across the state.

“This is great news for our state,” said Spearman.  “Providing public school options based on the needs of individual students and families is important to ensure that every child meets the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate.  I am very excited that we were one of just eight states to secure this funding and that our grant application received the highest score.  I want to thank the staff members at the Department and the people out in the field who assisted them in putting this high-quality application together,” concluded Spearman.

“As the highest-scoring applicant in the grant evaluation process—a very difficult and rigorous undertaking—South Carolina is sending a clear message that it’s a great place for high quality public charter schools to expand their impact on students’ lives,” said Elliot Smalley, Superintendent of the South Carolina Public Charter School District.  “Kudos to Superintendent Spearman and our colleagues at the South Carolina Department of Education—we have strong leadership in place, we have new grant funds, and now we get to put it all together to make sure more of our students have access to a great education,” concluded Smalley.

“With Superintendent Spearman’s leadership, the South Carolina Department of Education’s public charter school team has developed a plan for high quality, new public charter school development for the next five years,” said Mary Carmichael, Executive Director of the Public Charter School Alliance of South Carolina.  “This grant has the potential to positively impact the lives of thousands of children across the state.  It has focused priority on districts where students have the most to gain.  It is exciting for South Carolina to be recognized for the advances we have made.”

This year’s grants totaled $125 million nationwide, with South Carolina slated to receive $15 million in initial funding and up to $30.4 million possible over the next five years.  A total of 42 states were eligible to apply for the funding and 27 applied, with eight winners selected.  The state’s proposal for this funding round will focus on the quality of public charter school plans, the capacity to operate and sustain high-quality schools, and to ensure their viability and sustainability.

The South Carolina Department of Education will use the grant funding to create even more high-quality public charter schools by assessing and improving quality in new and existing charters; providing subgrants for planning and implementation; spreading innovation throughout the public school system; increasing awareness and use of public charter schools; improving the standards and effectiveness of authorizers and public charter school boards; and evaluating the effects of public charter schools on student achievement and growth to include the educationally disadvantaged, staff, and parents.

Since 2012, the number of public charter schools in South Carolina has increased over 78 percent while student enrollment increased more than 105 percent.  There are more than 30,000 students enrolled in public charter schools across the state. 

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