As you probably know by now, charter schools took federal money from two different pots in the CARES Act passed last spring. They got a share of the money allocated for public schools, then had the privilege of getting more money from the Paycheck Protection Program, which was intended to save small businesses in danger of shuttering their doors.
Now there is new relief Act, which is far more generous to public schools, but still allows charter schools to count as both public schools and not-public schools.
Carol Burris did research on the new CARES Act (which she calls CARES2) and found that once again charters will be allowed to double-dip.
On December 21, Congress passed the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021.
CARES 2 (which I am dubbing the Act for simplicity) includes $54.3 billion for K-12 schools, which is about four times more than the last bill. It will be allocated to states to give out as subgrants to Local Education Agencies (LEAs). LEAs are school districts as well as the majority of charter schools. Those charter schools that are not independent of a school district will receive their funding in the same manner as district schools.
According to the law firm Arnold and Porter, which has an excellent summary of the Cares 2 here, “Like the requirements in the CARES Act, the Secretary of Education must allocate ESSERF (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund) funding based on the state’s share of Title I, Part A funds under ESEA, and states will allocate at least 90 percent of funds as subgrants to Title I schools.”
There is also more leeway on how funds can be used—practically, schools can use it for any activity allowed under federal law.
There is an additional pot of money ($4 billion) that the Secretary of Education will distribute. $1.3 billion can be used by the Governors for public schools and higher ed institutions that were the hardest hit by the pandemic. $2.75 billion can be distributed by governors to private schools. Congress expressly prohibits in the Act the use of any of that money to fund vouchers or tax credits for tuition. The funds must be used to keep the school going, and private schools with high-needs students get priority.
Can private schools and charter schools dip into the SBA’s Payroll Protection Plan (PPP) funding again?
Private schools that get money from the $2.75 billion cannot. The CARES2 specifically says they cannot double-dip.
However, there is nothing to prevent a charter school from double-dipping, that is, getting both the ESSERFand PPP2. PPP2 will allow charter schools that are first-time borrowers to apply without stipulation. Suppose the charter received PPP in the first round. In that case, they could apply again if they show a 25% decline in revenue.
In the first round, charter schools received at least $1.5 billion dollars in PPP. Once again, public schools get the short end of the stick.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Congress prefers charter schools over public schools. It’s been obvious for years. The last three US Presidents also preferred charter schools over public schools.
There’s an editorial writer in Toledo who calls charters “the darlings” of politicians and it’s true. Again and again and again the laws and funding they pass show an ideological preference for privatized schools over public schools.
I see it in my state, Ohio. Charter and voucher promotion and funding FLY thru the legislature and are rubber stamped by the governor and year after year, session after session, they get nothing done for public schools although public schools serve the vast majority of students and families in the state.
Our schools are unfashionable. No one in government is interested in them.
One can see the disdain for public schools in the ed reform language- “government schools”, “factory schools”, “antiquated models”. It’s all derision and disdain.
Americans somehow ended up employing thousands of public employees who simply refuse to serve public schools, which of course means they also don’t serve public school STUDENTS. It’s ludicrous.
ludicrous indeed when a simple listing would show that many of the baby boomer legislators who now quickly jump on board the “decry education” wagon belonged to a generation which did not just depend upon public schools, but who took advantage of the chance to be the first in the family to “try” and succeed at college
[…] Network for Public Education’s Carol Burris dug deeper into the new pandemic relief package with education historian and blogger Diane […]