Empower Charter School Educators to Lead Act

Support for Charter School Developers: The bill provides pre-charter planning subgrants of up to $100,000 for developers intending to submit applications to chartering agencies or nonprofit/public entities (Sec. 2, subsection (b)(3)).

Opportunities for Experienced Educators: Subgrants are directed toward developers led by educators who have at least 54 months of school-based experience and have demonstrated leadership success (Sec. 2, subsection (b)(3)(B)).

Improved Oversight and Assistance: The bill directs the provision of technical assistance to applicants and agencies, as well as work with state agencies to improve authorizing quality through fiscal oversight and auditing (Sec. 2, subsection (b)(2)(A) and (B)).

Financial and Facility Assistance: At the discretion of the State entity, funds may be used to create revolving loan funds for expenses prior to receiving subgrants, and assistance may be provided to help applicants locate and access facilities (Sec. 2, subsection (b)(2)(C)(i) and (ii)).

Changes to Fund Allocation Percentages: The bill modifies existing percentage requirements, such as changing a figure from "90 percent" to "82 percent" (Sec. 2, subsection (c)(1)(A)).

New Restrictions on Funds: The bill inserts a requirement to reserve not more than 5 percent of certain funds specifically to carry out pre-charter planning subgrant activities (Sec. 2, subsection (c)(1)(C)).