Office of Innovation and Improvement; Overview Information; Charter School Program (CSP); Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2008, 68034-68039 [E7-23390]
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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 231 / Monday, December 3, 2007 / Notices
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of Innovation and Improvement;
Overview Information; Charter School
Program (CSP); Notice Inviting
Applications for New Awards for Fiscal
Year (FY) 2008
Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.282A.
Dates:
Applications Available: December 3,
2007.
Deadline for Transmittal of
Applications: February 1, 2008.
Deadline for Intergovernmental
Review: April 1, 2008.
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Full Text of Announcement
I. Funding Opportunity Description
Purpose of Program: The purpose of
the CSP is to increase national
understanding of the charter school
model and to expand the number of
high-quality charter schools available to
students across the Nation by providing
financial assistance for the planning,
program design, and initial
implementation of charter schools, and
to evaluate the effects of charter schools,
including their effects on students,
student academic achievement, staff,
and parents. The Secretary awards
grants to State educational agencies
(SEAs) to enable them to conduct
charter school programs in their States.
SEAs use their CSP funds to award
subgrants to non-SEA eligible applicants
for planning, program design, and initial
implementation of a charter school, and
to support the dissemination of
information about, including
information on successful practices in,
charter schools.
Priorities: This competition includes
five competitive preference priorities. In
accordance with 34 CFR 75.105(b)(1)
and 34 CFR 75.105(b)(2)(iv), priority 1 is
from the notice of final priorities for
discretionary grant programs, published
in the Federal Register on October 11,
2006 (71 FR 60046), and priorities 2
through 5 are from section 5202(e) of the
Elementary and Secondary Education
Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by the
No Child Left Behind Act of 2001
(NCLB), 20 U.S.C. 7221a(e).
Competitive Preference Priorities: For
FY 2008 and any subsequent year in
which we make awards from the list of
unfunded applicants from this
competition, these priorities are
competitive preference priorities. Under
34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i) we award up to
an additional fifty (50) points to an
application, depending on how well the
application meets these priorities. In
order to receive preference, an applicant
must identify the priorities that it
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believes it meets and provide
documentation supporting its claims. In
order to receive points for priority 2 or
to receive points for priorities 3 through
5, an application must meet priority 2
and must meet one or more of priorities
3 through 5.
An SEA that meets priority 2 but does
not meet one or more of priorities 3
through 5 will not receive any points for
priorities 2 through 5.
An SEA that does not meet priority 2
but meets one or more of priorities 3
through 5 will not receive any points for
priorities 2 through 5.
These priorities are:
Priority 1—Secondary Schools (10
points). Projects that support activities
and interventions aimed at improving
the academic achievement of secondary
school students who are at greatest risk
of not meeting challenging State
academic standards and not completing
high school.
Priority 2—Periodic Review and
Evaluation (10 points). The State
provides for periodic review and
evaluation by the authorized public
chartering agency of each charter school
at least once every five years, unless
required more frequently by State law,
to determine whether the charter school
is meeting the terms of the school’s
charter, and is meeting or exceeding the
student academic achievement
requirements and goals for charter
schools as provided under State law or
the school’s charter.
Priority 3—Number of High-Quality
Charter Schools (10 points). The State
has demonstrated progress in increasing
the number of high-quality charter
schools that are held accountable in the
terms of the schools’ charters for
meeting clear and measurable objectives
for the educational progress of the
students attending the schools, in the
period prior to the period for which an
SEA applies for a grant under this
competition.
Priority 4—One Authorized Public
Chartering Agency Other than a Local
Educational Agency (LEA), or an
Appeals Process (10 points). The State—
(a) Provides for one authorized public
chartering agency that is not an LEA,
such as a State chartering board, for
each individual or entity seeking to
operate a charter school pursuant to
State law; or
(b) In the case of a State in which
LEAs are the only authorized public
chartering agencies, allows for an
appeals process for the denial of an
application for a charter school.
Priority 5—High Degree of Autonomy
(10 points). The State ensures that each
charter school has a high degree of
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autonomy over the charter school’s
budgets and expenditures.
Note: In responding to each of the
competitive preference priorities, the
Secretary encourages applicants to provide
documentation, including citations and
examples from their State’s charter school
law.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 7221–
7221j.
Applicable Regulations: (a) The
Education Department General
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in
34 CFR parts 74, 75, 76, 77, 79, 80, 81,
82, 84, 85, 97, 98, and 99. (b) The notice
of final priorities for discretionary grant
programs published in the Federal
Register on October 11, 2006 (71 FR
60046).
II. Award Information
Type of Award: Discretionary grants.
Estimated Available Funds: The
Administration has requested
$47,000,000 for new awards for this
program for FY 2008. The actual level
of funding, if any, depends on final
congressional action. However, we are
inviting applications to allow enough
time to complete the grant process
before the end of the current fiscal year,
if Congress appropriates funds for this
program.
Estimated Range of Awards:
$500,000–$10,000,000 per year.
Estimated Average Size of Awards:
$5,000,000 per year.
Estimated Number of Awards: 8–10.
Note: The Department is not bound by any
estimates in this notice.
Project Period: Up to 36 months.
Note: Planning and implementation
subgrants awarded by an SEA to non-SEA
eligible applicants will be awarded for a
period of up to three years, no more than 18
months of which may be used for planning
and program design and no more than two
years of which may be used for the initial
implementation of a charter school.
Dissemination subgrants are awarded for a
period of up to two years.
III. Eligibility Information
1. Eligible Applicants: State
educational agencies (SEA) in States
with a State statute specifically
authorizing the establishment of charter
schools.
Note: Non-SEA eligible applicants in States
in which the SEA elects not to participate in
or does not have an application approved
under the CSP may apply for funding directly
from the Department. The Department plans
to hold a separate competition for non-SEA
eligible applicants under CFDA Nos. 84.282B
and 84.282C.
2. Cost Sharing or Matching: This
competition does not involve cost
sharing or matching.
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IV. Application and Submission
Information
1. Address to Request Application
Package: Dean Kern, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW.,
room 4W227, Washington, DC 20202–
5970. Telephone: (202) 260–1882 or by
e-mail: dean.kern@ed.gov.
If you use a telecommunications
device for the deaf (TDD), call the
Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll free, at
1–800–877–8339.
Individuals with disabilities may
obtain a copy of the application package
in an alternative format (e.g., Braille,
large print, audiotape, or computer
diskette) by contacting the program
contact person listed in this section.
2. Content and Form of Application
Submission: Requirements concerning
the content of an application, together
with the forms you must submit, are in
the application package for this
competition.
Page Limit: The application narrative
(Part III of the application) is where you,
the applicant, address the selection
criteria that reviewers use to evaluate
your application. The Secretary strongly
encourages applicants to limit Part III to
the equivalent of no more than 60 pages,
using the following standards:
• A ‘‘page’’ is 8.5″ x 11″, on one side
only, with 1″ margins at the top, bottom,
and both sides.
• Double space (no more than three
lines per vertical inch) all text in the
application narrative, including titles,
headings, footnotes, quotations,
references, and captions, as well as all
text in charts, tables, figures, and
graphs.
• Use a font that is either 12 point or
larger or no smaller than 10 pitch
(characters per inch).
• Use one of the following fonts:
Times New Roman, Courier, Courier
New, or Arial.
The page limit does not apply to Part
I, the cover sheet; Part II, the budget
section, including the narrative budget
justification; Part IV, the assurances and
certifications; or the one-page abstract,
the resumes, the bibliography, or the
letters of support. However, you must
include all of the application narrative
in Part III.
3. Submission Dates and Times:
Applications Available: December 3,
2007.
Deadline for Transmittal of
Applications: February 1, 2008.
Applications for grants under this
competition must be submitted
electronically using the Grants.gov
Apply site (Grants.gov). For information
(including dates and times) about how
to submit your application
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electronically, or in paper format by
mail or hand delivery if you qualify for
an exception to the electronic
submission requirement, please refer to
section IV.6. Other Submission
Requirements in this notice.
We do not consider an application
that does not comply with the deadline
requirements.
Individuals with disabilities who
need an accommodation or auxiliary aid
in connection with the application
process should contact the person listed
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT in section VII in this notice. If
the Department provides an
accommodation or auxiliary aid to an
individual with a disability in
connection with the application
process, the individual’s application
remains subject to all other
requirements and limitations in this
notice.
Deadline for Intergovernmental
Review: April 1, 2008.
4. Intergovernmental Review: This
competition is subject to Executive
Order 12372 and the regulations in 34
CFR part 79. Information about
Intergovernmental Review of Federal
Programs under Executive Order 12372
is in the application package for this
competition.
5. Funding Restrictions:
Use of Funds for Post-Award Planning
and Design of the Educational Program
and Initial Implementation of the
Charter School. A non-SEA eligible
applicant receiving a subgrant under
this program may use the subgrant
funds only for—
(a) Post-award planning and design of
the educational program, which may
include (i) refinement of the desired
educational results and of the methods
for measuring progress toward achieving
those results; and (ii) professional
development of teachers and other staff
who will work in the charter school;
and
(b) Initial implementation of the
charter school, which may include (i)
informing the community about the
school; (ii) acquiring necessary
equipment and educational materials
and supplies; (iii) acquiring or
developing curriculum materials; and
(iv) other initial operational costs that
cannot be met from State or local
sources.
Use of Funds for Dissemination
Activities. An SEA may reserve not
more than 10 percent of its grant funds
to support dissemination activities. A
charter school may use those funds to
assist other schools in adapting the
charter school’s program (or certain
aspects of the charter school’s program)
or to disseminate information about the
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charter school through such activities
as—
(a) Assisting other individuals with
the planning and start-up of one or more
new public schools, including charter
schools, that are independent of the
assisting charter school and the assisting
charter school’s developers and that
agree to be held to at least as high a level
of accountability as the assisting charter
school;
(b) Developing partnerships with
other public schools, including charter
schools, designed to improve student
academic achievement in each of the
schools participating in the partnership;
(c) Developing curriculum materials,
assessments, and other materials that
promote increased student achievement
and are based on successful practices
within the assisting charter school; and
(d) Conducting evaluations and
developing materials that document the
successful practices of the assisting
charter school and that are designed to
improve student achievement.
Award Basis. In determining whether
to approve a grant award and the
amount of such award, the Department
will consider, among other things, the
amount of any carryover funds the
applicant has under an existing grant
under the program.
We reference additional regulations
outlining funding restrictions in the
Applicable Regulations section of this
notice.
6. Other Submission Requirements.
Applications for grants under this
competition must be submitted
electronically unless you qualify for an
exception to this requirement in
accordance with the instructions in this
section.
a. Electronic Submission of
Applications.
Applications for grants under the
Charter School Program, CFDA Number
84.282A must be submitted
electronically using the
Governmentwide Grants.gov Apply site
at https://www.Grants.gov. Through this
site, you will be able to download a
copy of the application package,
complete it offline, and then upload and
submit your application. You may not
e-mail an electronic copy of a grant
application to us.
We will reject your application if you
submit it in paper format unless, as
described elsewhere in this section, you
qualify for one of the exceptions to the
electronic submission requirement and
submit, no later than two weeks before
the application deadline date, a written
statement to the Department that you
qualify for one of these exceptions.
Further information regarding
calculation of the date that is two weeks
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before the application deadline date is
provided later in this section under
Exception to Electronic Submission
Requirement.
You may access the electronic grant
application for the Charter School
Program at https://www.Grants.gov. You
must search for the downloadable
application package for this competition
by the CFDA number. Do not include
the CFDA number’s alpha suffix in your
search (e.g., search for 84.282, not
84.282A).
Please note the following:
• When you enter the Grants.gov site,
you will find information about
submitting an application electronically
through the site, as well as the hours of
operation.
• Applications received by Grants.gov
are date and time stamped. Your
application must be fully uploaded and
submitted and must be date and time
stamped by the Grants.gov system no
later than 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC
time, on the application deadline date.
Except as otherwise noted in this
section, we will not consider your
application if it is date and time
stamped by the Grants.gov system later
than 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on
the application deadline date. When we
retrieve your application from
Grants.gov, we will notify you if we are
rejecting your application because it
was date and time stamped by the
Grants.gov system after 4:30 p.m.,
Washington, DC time, on the
application deadline date.
• The amount of time it can take to
upload an application will vary
depending on a variety of factors
including the size of the application and
the speed of your Internet connection.
Therefore, we strongly recommend that
you do not wait until the application
deadline date to begin the submission
process through Grants.gov.
• You should review and follow the
Education Submission Procedures for
submitting an application through
Grants.gov that are included in the
application package for this program to
ensure that you submit your application
in a timely manner to the Grants.gov
system. You can also find the Education
Submission Procedures pertaining to
Grants.gov at https://e-Grants.ed.gov/
help/
GrantsgovSubmissionProcedures.pdf.
• To submit your application via
Grants.gov, you must complete all steps
in the Grants.gov registration process
(see https://www.grants.gov/applicants/
get_registered.jsp). These steps include
(1) registering your organization, a
multi-part process that includes
registration with the Central Contractor
Registry (CCR); (2) registering yourself
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as an Authorized Organization
Representative (AOR); and (3) getting
authorized as an AOR by your
organization. Details on these steps are
outlined in the Grants.gov 3-Step
Registration Guide (see https://
www.grants.gov/section910/
Grants.govRegistrationBrochure.pdf).
You also must provide on your
application the same D–U–N–S Number
used with this registration. Please note
that the registration process may take
five or more business days to complete,
and you must have completed all
registration steps to allow you to submit
successfully an application via
Grants.gov. In addition you will need to
update your CCR registration on an
annual basis. This may take three or
more business days to complete.
• You will not receive additional
point value because you submit your
application in electronic format, nor
will we penalize you if you qualify for
an exception to the electronic
submission requirement, as described
elsewhere in this section, and submit
your application in paper format.
• You must submit all documents
electronically, including all information
you typically provide on the following
forms: Application for Federal
Assistance (SF 424), the Department of
Education Supplemental Information for
SF 424, Budget Information—NonConstruction Programs (ED 524), and all
necessary assurances and certifications.
Please note that two of these forms—the
SF 424 and the Department of Education
Supplemental Information for SF 424—
have replaced the ED 424 (Application
for Federal Education Assistance).
• You must attach any narrative
sections of your application as files in
a .DOC (document), .RTF (rich text), or
.PDF (Portable Document) format. If you
upload a file type other than the three
file types specified in this paragraph or
submit a password-protected file, we
will not review that material.
• Your electronic application must
comply with any page-limit
requirements described in this notice.
• After you electronically submit
your application, you will receive from
Grants.gov an automatic notification of
receipt that contains a Grants.gov
tracking number. (This notification
indicates receipt by Grants.gov only, not
receipt by the Department.) The
Department then will retrieve your
application from Grants.gov and send a
second notification to you by e-mail.
This second notification indicates that
the Department has received your
application and has assigned your
application a PR/Award number (an EDspecified identifying number unique to
your application).
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• We may request that you provide us
original signatures on forms at a later
date.
Application Deadline Date Extension
in Case of Technical Issues with the
Grants.gov System: If you are
experiencing problems submitting your
application through Grants.gov, please
contact the Grants.gov Support Desk,
toll free, at 1–800–518–4726. You must
obtain a Grants.gov Support Desk Case
Number and must keep a record of it.
If you are prevented from
electronically submitting your
application on the application deadline
date because of technical problems with
the Grants.gov system, we will grant you
an extension until 4:30 p.m.,
Washington, DC time, the following
business day to enable you to transmit
your application electronically or by
hand delivery. You also may mail your
application by following the mailing
instructions described elsewhere in this
notice.
If you submit an application after 4:30
p.m., Washington, DC time, on the
application deadline date, please
contact the person listed under FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT in
Section VII in this notice and provide an
explanation of the technical problem
you experienced with Grants.gov, along
with the Grants.gov Support Desk Case
Number. We will accept your
application if we can confirm that a
technical problem occurred with the
Grants.gov system and that that problem
affected your ability to submit your
application by 4:30 p.m., Washington,
DC time, on the application deadline
date. The Department will contact you
after a determination is made on
whether your application will be
accepted.
Note: The extensions to which we refer in
this section apply only to the unavailability
of, or technical problems with, the Grants.gov
system. We will not grant you an extension
if you failed to fully register to submit your
application to Grants.gov before the
application deadline date and time or if the
technical problem you experienced is
unrelated to the Grants.gov system.
Exception to Electronic Submission
Requirement: You qualify for an
exception to the electronic submission
requirement, and may submit your
application in paper format, if you are
unable to submit an application through
the Grants.gov system because—
• You do not have access to the
Internet; or
• You do not have the capacity to
upload large documents to the
Grants.gov system; and
• No later than two weeks before the
application deadline date (14 calendar
days or, if the fourteenth calendar day
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before the application deadline date
falls on a Federal holiday, the next
business day following the Federal
holiday), you mail or fax a written
statement to the Department, explaining
which of the two grounds for an
exception prevent you from using the
Internet to submit your application.
If you mail your written statement to
the Department, it must be postmarked
no later than two weeks before the
application deadline date. If you fax
your written statement to the
Department, we must receive the faxed
statement no later than two weeks
before the application deadline date.
Address and mail or fax your
statement to: Dean Kern, U.S.
Department of Education, 400 Maryland
Avenue, SW., room 4W227,
Washington, DC 20202–5970. FAX:
(202) 205–5630.
Your paper application must be
submitted in accordance with the mail
or hand delivery instructions described
in this notice.
b. Submission of Paper Applications
by Mail.
If you qualify for an exception to the
electronic submission requirement, you
may mail (through the U.S. Postal
Service or a commercial carrier) your
application to the Department. You
must mail the original and two copies
of your application, on or before the
application deadline date, to the
Department at the applicable following
address:
By mail through the U.S. Postal
Service: U.S. Department of Education,
Application Control Center, Attention:
(CFDA Number 84.282A), 400 Maryland
Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20202–
4260; or
By mail through a commercial carrier:
U.S. Department of Education,
Application Control Center, Stop 4260,
Attention: (CFDA Number 84.282A),
7100 Old Landover Road, Landover, MD
20785–1506.
Regardless of which address you use,
you must show proof of mailing
consisting of one of the following:
(1) A legibly dated U.S. Postal Service
postmark.
(2) A legible mail receipt with the
date of mailing stamped by the U.S.
Postal Service.
(3) A dated shipping label, invoice, or
receipt from a commercial carrier.
(4) Any other proof of mailing
acceptable to the Secretary of the U.S.
Department of Education.
If you mail your application through
the U.S. Postal Service, we do not
accept either of the following as proof
of mailing:
(1) A private metered postmark.
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(2) A mail receipt that is not dated by
the U.S. Postal Service.
If your application is postmarked after
the application deadline date, we will
not consider your application.
Note: The U.S. Postal Service does not
uniformly provide a dated postmark. Before
relying on this method, you should check
with your local post office.
c. Submission of Paper Applications
by Hand Delivery.
If you qualify for an exception to the
electronic submission requirement, you
(or a courier service) may deliver your
paper application to the Department by
hand. You must deliver the original and
two copies of your application by hand,
on or before the application deadline
date, to the Department at the following
address: U.S. Department of Education,
Application Control Center, Attention:
(CFDA Number 84.282A), 550 12th
Street, SW., Room 7041, Potomac Center
Plaza, Washington, DC 20202–4260.
The Application Control Center
accepts hand deliveries daily between 8
a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC
time, except Saturdays, Sundays, and
Federal holidays.
Note for Mail or Hand Delivery of
Paper Applications: If you mail or hand
deliver your application to the
Department—
(1) You must indicate on the envelope
and—if not provided by the
Department—in Item 11 of the SF 424
the CFDA number, including suffix
letter, if any, of the competition under
which you are submitting your
application; and
(2) The Application Control Center
will mail to you a notification of receipt
of your grant application. If you do not
receive this notification within 15
business days from the application
deadline date, you should call the U.S.
Department of Education Application
Control Center at (202) 245–6288.
V. Application Review Information
Applicants applying for CSP grant
funds must address both the statutory
application requirements and the
selection criteria described in the
following paragraphs. An applicant may
choose to respond to these application
requirements in the context of its
responses to the selection criteria.
(a) Application Requirements. (i)
Describe the objectives of the SEA’s
charter school grant program and
describe how these objectives will be
fulfilled, including steps taken by the
SEA to inform teachers, parents, and
communities of the SEA’s charter school
grant program;
(ii) Describe how the SEA will inform
each charter school in the State about
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Federal funds the charter school is
eligible to receive and Federal programs
in which the charter school may
participate;
(iii) Describe how the SEA will ensure
that each charter school in the State
receives the school’s commensurate
share of Federal education funds that
are allocated by formula each year,
including during the first year of
operation of the school and a year in
which the school’s enrollment expands
significantly;
(iv) Describe how the SEA will
disseminate best or promising practices
of charter schools to each local
educational agency (LEA) in the State;
(v) If an SEA elects to reserve part of
its grant funds (no more than 10
percent) for the establishment of a
revolving loan fund, describe how the
revolving loan fund would operate;
(vi) If an SEA desires the Secretary to
consider waivers under the authority of
the CSP, include a request and
justification for any waiver of statutory
or regulatory provisions that the SEA
believes is necessary for the successful
operation of charter schools in the State;
and
(vii) Describe how charter schools that
are considered to be LEAs under State
law and LEAs in which charter schools
are located will comply with sections
613(a)(5) and 613(e)(1)(B) of the
Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act.
(b) Selection Criteria. The following
selection criteria are from the
authorizing statute for this program and
34 CFR 75.210 of EDGAR.
SEAs that propose to use a portion of
their grant funds for dissemination
activities must address each selection
criterion (i) through (vi) individually
and title each accordingly. SEAs that do
not propose to use a portion of their
grant funds for dissemination activities
must address selection criteria (i)
through (iv) and (vi), and need not
address selection criterion (v). SEAs that
do not address criterion (v) because they
are not proposing to use a portion of
their grant funds for dissemination
activities will not be penalized.
The maximum possible score is 150
points for SEAs that do not propose to
use grant funds to support
dissemination activities and 180 points
for SEAs that propose to use grant funds
to support dissemination activities.
The maximum possible score for each
criterion is indicated in parentheses
following the criterion.
In evaluating an application, the
Secretary considers the following
criteria:
(i) The contribution the charter
schools grant program will make in
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assisting educationally disadvantaged
and other students to achieve State
academic content standards and State
student academic achievement
standards (30 points).
Note: The Secretary encourages applicants
to provide a description of the objectives for
the SEA’s charter school grant program and
how these objectives will be fulfilled,
including steps taken by the SEA to inform
teachers, parents, and communities of the
SEA’s charter school grant program and how
the SEA will disseminate best or promising
practices of charter schools to each LEA in
the State.
(ii) The degree of flexibility afforded
by the SEA to charter schools under the
State’s charter school law (30 points).
Note: The Secretary encourages the
applicant to include a description of how the
State’s law establishes an administrative
relationship between the charter school and
the authorized public chartering agency and
exempts charter schools from significant
State or local rules that inhibit the flexible
operation and management of public schools.
The Secretary also encourages the
applicant to include a description of the
degree of autonomy charter schools
have achieved over such matters as the
charter school’s budget, expenditures,
daily operation, and personnel in
accordance with their State’s law.
(iii) The number of high-quality
charter schools to be created in the State
(30 points).
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Note: The Secretary considers the SEA’s
reasonable estimate of the number of new
charter schools to be authorized and opened
in the State during the three-year period of
this grant.
The Secretary also considers how the
SEA will inform each charter school in
the State about Federal funds the charter
school is eligible to receive and ensure
that each charter school in the State
receives the school’s commensurate
share of Federal education funds that
are allocated by formula each year,
including during the first year of
operation of the school and during a
year in which the school’s enrollment
expands significantly.
(iv) The quality of the management
plan for the proposed project. In
determining the quality of the
management plan for the proposed
project, the Secretary considers the
adequacy of the management plan to
achieve the objectives of the proposed
project on time and within budget,
including clearly defined
responsibilities, timelines, and
milestones for accomplishing project
tasks (30 points).
Note: In addition to describing the
proposed objectives of the SEA charter
school grant program and how these
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objectives will be fulfilled, the Secretary
encourages applicants to provide
descriptions of the steps to be taken by the
SEA to award subgrant funds to eligible
applicants desiring to receive these funds,
including descriptions of the peer review
process the SEA will use to review
applications for assistance, the timelines for
awarding such funds, and how the SEA will
assess the quality of the applications.
(v) In the case of SEAs that propose
to use grant funds to support
dissemination activities under section
5204(f)(6) of the ESEA, the quality of the
dissemination activities (15 points) and
the likelihood that those activities will
improve student academic achievement
(15 points).
Note: The Secretary encourages applicants
to describe the steps to be taken by the SEA
to award these funds to eligible applicants,
including descriptions of the peer review
process the SEA will use to review
applications for dissemination, the timelines
for awarding such funds, and how the SEA
will assess the quality of the applications.
(vi) The Secretary considers the
quality of the evaluation to be
conducted of the proposed project. In
determining the quality of the
evaluation, the Secretary considers the
extent to which the methods of
evaluation include the use of objective
performance measures that are clearly
related to the intended outcomes of the
project and will produce quantitative
and qualitative data to the extent
possible (30 points).
Note: A strong evaluation plan should be
included in the application narrative and
should be used, as appropriate, to shape the
development of the project from the
beginning of the grant period. The plan
should include benchmarks to monitor
progress toward specific project objectives
and also outcome measures to assess the
impact on teaching and learning or other
important outcomes for project participants.
More specifically, the plan should identify
the individual and/or organization that has
agreed to serve as evaluator for the project
and describe the qualifications of that
evaluator.
The plan should describe the evaluation
design, indicating: (1) What types of data will
be collected; (2) when various types of data
will be collected; (3) what methods will be
used; (4) what instruments will be developed
and when; (5) how the data will be analyzed;
(6) when reports of results and outcomes will
be available; and (7) how the applicant will
use the information collected through the
evaluation to monitor progress of the funded
project and to provide accountability
information both about success at the initial
site and about effective strategies for
replication in other settings. Applicants are
encouraged to devote an appropriate level of
resources to project evaluation.
PO 00000
Frm 00006
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VI. Award Administration Information
1. Award Notices: If your application
is successful, we will notify your U.S.
Representative and U.S. Senators and
send you a Grant Award Notice (GAN).
We may notify you informally, also.
If your application is not evaluated or
not selected for funding, we notify you.
2. Administrative and National Policy
Requirements: We identify
administrative and national policy
requirements in the application package
and reference these and other
requirements in the Applicable
Regulations section of this notice.
We reference the regulations outlining
the terms and conditions of an award in
the Applicable Regulations section of
this notice and include these and other
specific conditions in the GAN. The
GAN also incorporates your approved
application as part of your binding
commitments under the grant.
3. Reporting: At the end of your
project period, you must submit a final
performance report, including financial
information, as directed by the
Secretary. If you receive a multi-year
award, you must submit an annual
performance report that provides the
most current performance and financial
expenditure information as specified by
the Secretary under 34 CFR 75.118. The
Secretary may also require more
frequent performance reports under 34
CFR 75.720(c). For specific
requirements on grantee reporting,
please go to https://www.ed.gov/fund/
grant/apply/appforms/appforms.html.
4. Performance Measures: The goal of
the CSP is to support the creation and
development of a large number of highquality charter schools that are free from
State or local rules that inhibit flexible
operation, are held accountable for
enabling students to reach challenging
State performance standards, and are
open to all students. The Secretary has
set two performance indicators to
measure this goal: (1) The number of
charter schools in operation around the
Nation, and (2) the percentage of charter
school students who are achieving at or
above the proficient level on State
examinations in mathematics and
reading. Additionally, the Secretary has
established the following measure to
examine the efficiency of the CSP:
Federal cost per student in
implementing a successful school
(defined as a school in operation for
three or more years).
All grantees will be expected to
submit an annual performance report
documenting their contribution in
assisting the Department in meeting
these performance measures.
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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 231 / Monday, December 3, 2007 / Notices
VII. Agency Contact
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Dean Kern, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW.,
room 4W227, Washington, DC 20202–
5961. Telephone: (202) 260–1882 or by
e-mail: dean.kern@ed.gov.
If you use a TDD, call the FRS, toll
free, at 1–800–877–8339.
VIII. Other Information
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Alternative Format: Individuals with
disabilities can obtain this document
and a copy of the application package in
an alternative format (e.g., Braille, large
print, audiotape, or computer diskette)
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16:28 Nov 30, 2007
Jkt 214001
on request to the program contact
person listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT in section VII in
this notice.
Electronic Access to This Document:
You can view this document, as well as
all other documents of this Department
published in the Federal Register, in
text or Adobe Portable Document
Format (PDF) on the Internet at the
following site: www.ed.gov/news/
fedregister.
To use PDF you must have Adobe
Acrobat Reader, which is available free
at this site. If you have questions about
using PDF, call the U.S. Government
Printing Office (GPO), toll free, at 1–
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4703
68039
888–293–6498; or in the Washington,
DC, area at (202) 512–1530.
Note: The official version of this document
is the document published in the Federal
Register. Free Internet access to the official
edition of the Federal Register and the Code
of Federal Regulations is available on GPO
Access at: www.gpoaccess.gov/nara/
index.html.
Dated: November 28, 2007.
Morgan S. Brown,
Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and
Improvement.
[FR Doc. E7–23390 Filed 11–30–07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000–01–P
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 231 (Monday, December 3, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68034-68039]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-23390]
[[Page 68033]]
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Part III
Department of Education
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Office of Innovation and Improvement; Overview Information; Charter
School Program (CSP); Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for
Fiscal Year (FY) 2008; Notice
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 231 / Monday, December 3, 2007 /
Notices
[[Page 68034]]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of Innovation and Improvement; Overview Information;
Charter School Program (CSP); Notice Inviting Applications for New
Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2008
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.282A.
Dates:
Applications Available: December 3, 2007.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: February 1, 2008.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: April 1, 2008.
Full Text of Announcement
I. Funding Opportunity Description
Purpose of Program: The purpose of the CSP is to increase national
understanding of the charter school model and to expand the number of
high-quality charter schools available to students across the Nation by
providing financial assistance for the planning, program design, and
initial implementation of charter schools, and to evaluate the effects
of charter schools, including their effects on students, student
academic achievement, staff, and parents. The Secretary awards grants
to State educational agencies (SEAs) to enable them to conduct charter
school programs in their States. SEAs use their CSP funds to award
subgrants to non-SEA eligible applicants for planning, program design,
and initial implementation of a charter school, and to support the
dissemination of information about, including information on successful
practices in, charter schools.
Priorities: This competition includes five competitive preference
priorities. In accordance with 34 CFR 75.105(b)(1) and 34 CFR
75.105(b)(2)(iv), priority 1 is from the notice of final priorities for
discretionary grant programs, published in the Federal Register on
October 11, 2006 (71 FR 60046), and priorities 2 through 5 are from
section 5202(e) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965
(ESEA), as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), 20
U.S.C. 7221a(e).
Competitive Preference Priorities: For FY 2008 and any subsequent
year in which we make awards from the list of unfunded applicants from
this competition, these priorities are competitive preference
priorities. Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i) we award up to an additional
fifty (50) points to an application, depending on how well the
application meets these priorities. In order to receive preference, an
applicant must identify the priorities that it believes it meets and
provide documentation supporting its claims. In order to receive points
for priority 2 or to receive points for priorities 3 through 5, an
application must meet priority 2 and must meet one or more of
priorities 3 through 5.
An SEA that meets priority 2 but does not meet one or more of
priorities 3 through 5 will not receive any points for priorities 2
through 5.
An SEA that does not meet priority 2 but meets one or more of
priorities 3 through 5 will not receive any points for priorities 2
through 5.
These priorities are:
Priority 1--Secondary Schools (10 points). Projects that support
activities and interventions aimed at improving the academic
achievement of secondary school students who are at greatest risk of
not meeting challenging State academic standards and not completing
high school.
Priority 2--Periodic Review and Evaluation (10 points). The State
provides for periodic review and evaluation by the authorized public
chartering agency of each charter school at least once every five
years, unless required more frequently by State law, to determine
whether the charter school is meeting the terms of the school's
charter, and is meeting or exceeding the student academic achievement
requirements and goals for charter schools as provided under State law
or the school's charter.
Priority 3--Number of High-Quality Charter Schools (10 points). The
State has demonstrated progress in increasing the number of high-
quality charter schools that are held accountable in the terms of the
schools' charters for meeting clear and measurable objectives for the
educational progress of the students attending the schools, in the
period prior to the period for which an SEA applies for a grant under
this competition.
Priority 4--One Authorized Public Chartering Agency Other than a
Local Educational Agency (LEA), or an Appeals Process (10 points). The
State--
(a) Provides for one authorized public chartering agency that is
not an LEA, such as a State chartering board, for each individual or
entity seeking to operate a charter school pursuant to State law; or
(b) In the case of a State in which LEAs are the only authorized
public chartering agencies, allows for an appeals process for the
denial of an application for a charter school.
Priority 5--High Degree of Autonomy (10 points). The State ensures
that each charter school has a high degree of autonomy over the charter
school's budgets and expenditures.
Note: In responding to each of the competitive preference
priorities, the Secretary encourages applicants to provide
documentation, including citations and examples from their State's
charter school law.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 7221-7221j.
Applicable Regulations: (a) The Education Department General
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 76, 77, 79,
80, 81, 82, 84, 85, 97, 98, and 99. (b) The notice of final priorities
for discretionary grant programs published in the Federal Register on
October 11, 2006 (71 FR 60046).
II. Award Information
Type of Award: Discretionary grants.
Estimated Available Funds: The Administration has requested
$47,000,000 for new awards for this program for FY 2008. The actual
level of funding, if any, depends on final congressional action.
However, we are inviting applications to allow enough time to complete
the grant process before the end of the current fiscal year, if
Congress appropriates funds for this program.
Estimated Range of Awards: $500,000-$10,000,000 per year.
Estimated Average Size of Awards: $5,000,000 per year.
Estimated Number of Awards: 8-10.
Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this
notice.
Project Period: Up to 36 months.
Note: Planning and implementation subgrants awarded by an SEA to
non-SEA eligible applicants will be awarded for a period of up to
three years, no more than 18 months of which may be used for
planning and program design and no more than two years of which may
be used for the initial implementation of a charter school.
Dissemination subgrants are awarded for a period of up to two years.
III. Eligibility Information
1. Eligible Applicants: State educational agencies (SEA) in States
with a State statute specifically authorizing the establishment of
charter schools.
Note: Non-SEA eligible applicants in States in which the SEA
elects not to participate in or does not have an application
approved under the CSP may apply for funding directly from the
Department. The Department plans to hold a separate competition for
non-SEA eligible applicants under CFDA Nos. 84.282B and 84.282C.
2. Cost Sharing or Matching: This competition does not involve cost
sharing or matching.
[[Page 68035]]
IV. Application and Submission Information
1. Address to Request Application Package: Dean Kern, U.S.
Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 4W227,
Washington, DC 20202-5970. Telephone: (202) 260-1882 or by e-mail:
dean.kern@ed.gov.
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), call the
Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll free, at 1-800-877-8339.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of the application
package in an alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print,
audiotape, or computer diskette) by contacting the program contact
person listed in this section.
2. Content and Form of Application Submission: Requirements
concerning the content of an application, together with the forms you
must submit, are in the application package for this competition.
Page Limit: The application narrative (Part III of the application)
is where you, the applicant, address the selection criteria that
reviewers use to evaluate your application. The Secretary strongly
encourages applicants to limit Part III to the equivalent of no more
than 60 pages, using the following standards:
A ``page'' is 8.5 x 11, on one side
only, with 1 margins at the top, bottom, and both sides.
Double space (no more than three lines per vertical inch)
all text in the application narrative, including titles, headings,
footnotes, quotations, references, and captions, as well as all text in
charts, tables, figures, and graphs.
Use a font that is either 12 point or larger or no smaller
than 10 pitch (characters per inch).
Use one of the following fonts: Times New Roman, Courier,
Courier New, or Arial.
The page limit does not apply to Part I, the cover sheet; Part II,
the budget section, including the narrative budget justification; Part
IV, the assurances and certifications; or the one-page abstract, the
resumes, the bibliography, or the letters of support. However, you must
include all of the application narrative in Part III.
3. Submission Dates and Times:
Applications Available: December 3, 2007.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: February 1, 2008.
Applications for grants under this competition must be submitted
electronically using the Grants.gov Apply site (Grants.gov). For
information (including dates and times) about how to submit your
application electronically, or in paper format by mail or hand delivery
if you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission
requirement, please refer to section IV.6. Other Submission
Requirements in this notice.
We do not consider an application that does not comply with the
deadline requirements.
Individuals with disabilities who need an accommodation or
auxiliary aid in connection with the application process should contact
the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT in section VII
in this notice. If the Department provides an accommodation or
auxiliary aid to an individual with a disability in connection with the
application process, the individual's application remains subject to
all other requirements and limitations in this notice.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: April 1, 2008.
4. Intergovernmental Review: This competition is subject to
Executive Order 12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR part 79.
Information about Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs under
Executive Order 12372 is in the application package for this
competition.
5. Funding Restrictions:
Use of Funds for Post-Award Planning and Design of the Educational
Program and Initial Implementation of the Charter School. A non-SEA
eligible applicant receiving a subgrant under this program may use the
subgrant funds only for--
(a) Post-award planning and design of the educational program,
which may include (i) refinement of the desired educational results and
of the methods for measuring progress toward achieving those results;
and (ii) professional development of teachers and other staff who will
work in the charter school; and
(b) Initial implementation of the charter school, which may include
(i) informing the community about the school; (ii) acquiring necessary
equipment and educational materials and supplies; (iii) acquiring or
developing curriculum materials; and (iv) other initial operational
costs that cannot be met from State or local sources.
Use of Funds for Dissemination Activities. An SEA may reserve not
more than 10 percent of its grant funds to support dissemination
activities. A charter school may use those funds to assist other
schools in adapting the charter school's program (or certain aspects of
the charter school's program) or to disseminate information about the
charter school through such activities as--
(a) Assisting other individuals with the planning and start-up of
one or more new public schools, including charter schools, that are
independent of the assisting charter school and the assisting charter
school's developers and that agree to be held to at least as high a
level of accountability as the assisting charter school;
(b) Developing partnerships with other public schools, including
charter schools, designed to improve student academic achievement in
each of the schools participating in the partnership;
(c) Developing curriculum materials, assessments, and other
materials that promote increased student achievement and are based on
successful practices within the assisting charter school; and
(d) Conducting evaluations and developing materials that document
the successful practices of the assisting charter school and that are
designed to improve student achievement.
Award Basis. In determining whether to approve a grant award and
the amount of such award, the Department will consider, among other
things, the amount of any carryover funds the applicant has under an
existing grant under the program.
We reference additional regulations outlining funding restrictions
in the Applicable Regulations section of this notice.
6. Other Submission Requirements. Applications for grants under
this competition must be submitted electronically unless you qualify
for an exception to this requirement in accordance with the
instructions in this section.
a. Electronic Submission of Applications.
Applications for grants under the Charter School Program, CFDA
Number 84.282A must be submitted electronically using the
Governmentwide Grants.gov Apply site at https://www.Grants.gov. Through
this site, you will be able to download a copy of the application
package, complete it offline, and then upload and submit your
application. You may not e-mail an electronic copy of a grant
application to us.
We will reject your application if you submit it in paper format
unless, as described elsewhere in this section, you qualify for one of
the exceptions to the electronic submission requirement and submit, no
later than two weeks before the application deadline date, a written
statement to the Department that you qualify for one of these
exceptions. Further information regarding calculation of the date that
is two weeks
[[Page 68036]]
before the application deadline date is provided later in this section
under Exception to Electronic Submission Requirement.
You may access the electronic grant application for the Charter
School Program at https://www.Grants.gov. You must search for the
downloadable application package for this competition by the CFDA
number. Do not include the CFDA number's alpha suffix in your search
(e.g., search for 84.282, not 84.282A).
Please note the following:
When you enter the Grants.gov site, you will find
information about submitting an application electronically through the
site, as well as the hours of operation.
Applications received by Grants.gov are date and time
stamped. Your application must be fully uploaded and submitted and must
be date and time stamped by the Grants.gov system no later than 4:30
p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline date. Except as
otherwise noted in this section, we will not consider your application
if it is date and time stamped by the Grants.gov system later than 4:30
p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline date. When we
retrieve your application from Grants.gov, we will notify you if we are
rejecting your application because it was date and time stamped by the
Grants.gov system after 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the
application deadline date.
The amount of time it can take to upload an application
will vary depending on a variety of factors including the size of the
application and the speed of your Internet connection. Therefore, we
strongly recommend that you do not wait until the application deadline
date to begin the submission process through Grants.gov.
You should review and follow the Education Submission
Procedures for submitting an application through Grants.gov that are
included in the application package for this program to ensure that you
submit your application in a timely manner to the Grants.gov system.
You can also find the Education Submission Procedures pertaining to
Grants.gov at https://e-Grants.ed.gov/help/
GrantsgovSubmissionProcedures.pdf.
To submit your application via Grants.gov, you must
complete all steps in the Grants.gov registration process (see https://
www.grants.gov/applicants/get_registered.jsp). These steps include (1)
registering your organization, a multi-part process that includes
registration with the Central Contractor Registry (CCR); (2)
registering yourself as an Authorized Organization Representative
(AOR); and (3) getting authorized as an AOR by your organization.
Details on these steps are outlined in the Grants.gov 3-Step
Registration Guide (see https://www.grants.gov/section910/
Grants.govRegistrationBrochure.pdf). You also must provide on your
application the same D-U-N-S Number used with this registration. Please
note that the registration process may take five or more business days
to complete, and you must have completed all registration steps to
allow you to submit successfully an application via Grants.gov. In
addition you will need to update your CCR registration on an annual
basis. This may take three or more business days to complete.
You will not receive additional point value because you
submit your application in electronic format, nor will we penalize you
if you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission
requirement, as described elsewhere in this section, and submit your
application in paper format.
You must submit all documents electronically, including
all information you typically provide on the following forms:
Application for Federal Assistance (SF 424), the Department of
Education Supplemental Information for SF 424, Budget Information--Non-
Construction Programs (ED 524), and all necessary assurances and
certifications. Please note that two of these forms--the SF 424 and the
Department of Education Supplemental Information for SF 424--have
replaced the ED 424 (Application for Federal Education Assistance).
You must attach any narrative sections of your application
as files in a .DOC (document), .RTF (rich text), or .PDF (Portable
Document) format. If you upload a file type other than the three file
types specified in this paragraph or submit a password-protected file,
we will not review that material.
Your electronic application must comply with any page-
limit requirements described in this notice.
After you electronically submit your application, you will
receive from Grants.gov an automatic notification of receipt that
contains a Grants.gov tracking number. (This notification indicates
receipt by Grants.gov only, not receipt by the Department.) The
Department then will retrieve your application from Grants.gov and send
a second notification to you by e-mail. This second notification
indicates that the Department has received your application and has
assigned your application a PR/Award number (an ED-specified
identifying number unique to your application).
We may request that you provide us original signatures on
forms at a later date.
Application Deadline Date Extension in Case of Technical Issues
with the Grants.gov System: If you are experiencing problems submitting
your application through Grants.gov, please contact the Grants.gov
Support Desk, toll free, at 1-800-518-4726. You must obtain a
Grants.gov Support Desk Case Number and must keep a record of it.
If you are prevented from electronically submitting your
application on the application deadline date because of technical
problems with the Grants.gov system, we will grant you an extension
until 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, the following business day to
enable you to transmit your application electronically or by hand
delivery. You also may mail your application by following the mailing
instructions described elsewhere in this notice.
If you submit an application after 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time,
on the application deadline date, please contact the person listed
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT in Section VII in this notice and
provide an explanation of the technical problem you experienced with
Grants.gov, along with the Grants.gov Support Desk Case Number. We will
accept your application if we can confirm that a technical problem
occurred with the Grants.gov system and that that problem affected your
ability to submit your application by 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time,
on the application deadline date. The Department will contact you after
a determination is made on whether your application will be accepted.
Note: The extensions to which we refer in this section apply
only to the unavailability of, or technical problems with, the
Grants.gov system. We will not grant you an extension if you failed
to fully register to submit your application to Grants.gov before
the application deadline date and time or if the technical problem
you experienced is unrelated to the Grants.gov system.
Exception to Electronic Submission Requirement: You qualify for an
exception to the electronic submission requirement, and may submit your
application in paper format, if you are unable to submit an application
through the Grants.gov system because--
You do not have access to the Internet; or
You do not have the capacity to upload large documents to
the Grants.gov system; and
No later than two weeks before the application deadline
date (14 calendar days or, if the fourteenth calendar day
[[Page 68037]]
before the application deadline date falls on a Federal holiday, the
next business day following the Federal holiday), you mail or fax a
written statement to the Department, explaining which of the two
grounds for an exception prevent you from using the Internet to submit
your application.
If you mail your written statement to the Department, it must be
postmarked no later than two weeks before the application deadline
date. If you fax your written statement to the Department, we must
receive the faxed statement no later than two weeks before the
application deadline date.
Address and mail or fax your statement to: Dean Kern, U.S.
Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 4W227,
Washington, DC 20202-5970. FAX: (202) 205-5630.
Your paper application must be submitted in accordance with the
mail or hand delivery instructions described in this notice.
b. Submission of Paper Applications by Mail.
If you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission
requirement, you may mail (through the U.S. Postal Service or a
commercial carrier) your application to the Department. You must mail
the original and two copies of your application, on or before the
application deadline date, to the Department at the applicable
following address:
By mail through the U.S. Postal Service: U.S. Department of
Education, Application Control Center, Attention: (CFDA Number
84.282A), 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20202-4260; or
By mail through a commercial carrier: U.S. Department of Education,
Application Control Center, Stop 4260, Attention: (CFDA Number
84.282A), 7100 Old Landover Road, Landover, MD 20785-1506.
Regardless of which address you use, you must show proof of mailing
consisting of one of the following:
(1) A legibly dated U.S. Postal Service postmark.
(2) A legible mail receipt with the date of mailing stamped by the
U.S. Postal Service.
(3) A dated shipping label, invoice, or receipt from a commercial
carrier.
(4) Any other proof of mailing acceptable to the Secretary of the
U.S. Department of Education.
If you mail your application through the U.S. Postal Service, we do
not accept either of the following as proof of mailing:
(1) A private metered postmark.
(2) A mail receipt that is not dated by the U.S. Postal Service.
If your application is postmarked after the application deadline
date, we will not consider your application.
Note: The U.S. Postal Service does not uniformly provide a dated
postmark. Before relying on this method, you should check with your
local post office.
c. Submission of Paper Applications by Hand Delivery.
If you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission
requirement, you (or a courier service) may deliver your paper
application to the Department by hand. You must deliver the original
and two copies of your application by hand, on or before the
application deadline date, to the Department at the following address:
U.S. Department of Education, Application Control Center, Attention:
(CFDA Number 84.282A), 550 12th Street, SW., Room 7041, Potomac Center
Plaza, Washington, DC 20202-4260.
The Application Control Center accepts hand deliveries daily
between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, except Saturdays,
Sundays, and Federal holidays.
Note for Mail or Hand Delivery of Paper Applications: If you mail
or hand deliver your application to the Department--
(1) You must indicate on the envelope and--if not provided by the
Department--in Item 11 of the SF 424 the CFDA number, including suffix
letter, if any, of the competition under which you are submitting your
application; and
(2) The Application Control Center will mail to you a notification
of receipt of your grant application. If you do not receive this
notification within 15 business days from the application deadline
date, you should call the U.S. Department of Education Application
Control Center at (202) 245-6288.
V. Application Review Information
Applicants applying for CSP grant funds must address both the
statutory application requirements and the selection criteria described
in the following paragraphs. An applicant may choose to respond to
these application requirements in the context of its responses to the
selection criteria.
(a) Application Requirements. (i) Describe the objectives of the
SEA's charter school grant program and describe how these objectives
will be fulfilled, including steps taken by the SEA to inform teachers,
parents, and communities of the SEA's charter school grant program;
(ii) Describe how the SEA will inform each charter school in the
State about Federal funds the charter school is eligible to receive and
Federal programs in which the charter school may participate;
(iii) Describe how the SEA will ensure that each charter school in
the State receives the school's commensurate share of Federal education
funds that are allocated by formula each year, including during the
first year of operation of the school and a year in which the school's
enrollment expands significantly;
(iv) Describe how the SEA will disseminate best or promising
practices of charter schools to each local educational agency (LEA) in
the State;
(v) If an SEA elects to reserve part of its grant funds (no more
than 10 percent) for the establishment of a revolving loan fund,
describe how the revolving loan fund would operate;
(vi) If an SEA desires the Secretary to consider waivers under the
authority of the CSP, include a request and justification for any
waiver of statutory or regulatory provisions that the SEA believes is
necessary for the successful operation of charter schools in the State;
and
(vii) Describe how charter schools that are considered to be LEAs
under State law and LEAs in which charter schools are located will
comply with sections 613(a)(5) and 613(e)(1)(B) of the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act.
(b) Selection Criteria. The following selection criteria are from
the authorizing statute for this program and 34 CFR 75.210 of EDGAR.
SEAs that propose to use a portion of their grant funds for
dissemination activities must address each selection criterion (i)
through (vi) individually and title each accordingly. SEAs that do not
propose to use a portion of their grant funds for dissemination
activities must address selection criteria (i) through (iv) and (vi),
and need not address selection criterion (v). SEAs that do not address
criterion (v) because they are not proposing to use a portion of their
grant funds for dissemination activities will not be penalized.
The maximum possible score is 150 points for SEAs that do not
propose to use grant funds to support dissemination activities and 180
points for SEAs that propose to use grant funds to support
dissemination activities.
The maximum possible score for each criterion is indicated in
parentheses following the criterion.
In evaluating an application, the Secretary considers the following
criteria:
(i) The contribution the charter schools grant program will make in
[[Page 68038]]
assisting educationally disadvantaged and other students to achieve
State academic content standards and State student academic achievement
standards (30 points).
Note: The Secretary encourages applicants to provide a
description of the objectives for the SEA's charter school grant
program and how these objectives will be fulfilled, including steps
taken by the SEA to inform teachers, parents, and communities of the
SEA's charter school grant program and how the SEA will disseminate
best or promising practices of charter schools to each LEA in the
State.
(ii) The degree of flexibility afforded by the SEA to charter
schools under the State's charter school law (30 points).
Note: The Secretary encourages the applicant to include a
description of how the State's law establishes an administrative
relationship between the charter school and the authorized public
chartering agency and exempts charter schools from significant State
or local rules that inhibit the flexible operation and management of
public schools.
The Secretary also encourages the applicant to include a
description of the degree of autonomy charter schools have achieved
over such matters as the charter school's budget, expenditures, daily
operation, and personnel in accordance with their State's law.
(iii) The number of high-quality charter schools to be created in
the State (30 points).
Note: The Secretary considers the SEA's reasonable estimate of
the number of new charter schools to be authorized and opened in the
State during the three-year period of this grant.
The Secretary also considers how the SEA will inform each charter
school in the State about Federal funds the charter school is eligible
to receive and ensure that each charter school in the State receives
the school's commensurate share of Federal education funds that are
allocated by formula each year, including during the first year of
operation of the school and during a year in which the school's
enrollment expands significantly.
(iv) The quality of the management plan for the proposed project.
In determining the quality of the management plan for the proposed
project, the Secretary considers the adequacy of the management plan to
achieve the objectives of the proposed project on time and within
budget, including clearly defined responsibilities, timelines, and
milestones for accomplishing project tasks (30 points).
Note: In addition to describing the proposed objectives of the
SEA charter school grant program and how these objectives will be
fulfilled, the Secretary encourages applicants to provide
descriptions of the steps to be taken by the SEA to award subgrant
funds to eligible applicants desiring to receive these funds,
including descriptions of the peer review process the SEA will use
to review applications for assistance, the timelines for awarding
such funds, and how the SEA will assess the quality of the
applications.
(v) In the case of SEAs that propose to use grant funds to support
dissemination activities under section 5204(f)(6) of the ESEA, the
quality of the dissemination activities (15 points) and the likelihood
that those activities will improve student academic achievement (15
points).
Note: The Secretary encourages applicants to describe the steps
to be taken by the SEA to award these funds to eligible applicants,
including descriptions of the peer review process the SEA will use
to review applications for dissemination, the timelines for awarding
such funds, and how the SEA will assess the quality of the
applications.
(vi) The Secretary considers the quality of the evaluation to be
conducted of the proposed project. In determining the quality of the
evaluation, the Secretary considers the extent to which the methods of
evaluation include the use of objective performance measures that are
clearly related to the intended outcomes of the project and will
produce quantitative and qualitative data to the extent possible (30
points).
Note: A strong evaluation plan should be included in the
application narrative and should be used, as appropriate, to shape
the development of the project from the beginning of the grant
period. The plan should include benchmarks to monitor progress
toward specific project objectives and also outcome measures to
assess the impact on teaching and learning or other important
outcomes for project participants. More specifically, the plan
should identify the individual and/or organization that has agreed
to serve as evaluator for the project and describe the
qualifications of that evaluator.
The plan should describe the evaluation design, indicating: (1)
What types of data will be collected; (2) when various types of data
will be collected; (3) what methods will be used; (4) what
instruments will be developed and when; (5) how the data will be
analyzed; (6) when reports of results and outcomes will be
available; and (7) how the applicant will use the information
collected through the evaluation to monitor progress of the funded
project and to provide accountability information both about success
at the initial site and about effective strategies for replication
in other settings. Applicants are encouraged to devote an
appropriate level of resources to project evaluation.
VI. Award Administration Information
1. Award Notices: If your application is successful, we will notify
your U.S. Representative and U.S. Senators and send you a Grant Award
Notice (GAN). We may notify you informally, also.
If your application is not evaluated or not selected for funding,
we notify you.
2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements: We identify
administrative and national policy requirements in the application
package and reference these and other requirements in the Applicable
Regulations section of this notice.
We reference the regulations outlining the terms and conditions of
an award in the Applicable Regulations section of this notice and
include these and other specific conditions in the GAN. The GAN also
incorporates your approved application as part of your binding
commitments under the grant.
3. Reporting: At the end of your project period, you must submit a
final performance report, including financial information, as directed
by the Secretary. If you receive a multi-year award, you must submit an
annual performance report that provides the most current performance
and financial expenditure information as specified by the Secretary
under 34 CFR 75.118. The Secretary may also require more frequent
performance reports under 34 CFR 75.720(c). For specific requirements
on grantee reporting, please go to https://www.ed.gov/fund/grant/apply/
appforms/appforms.html.
4. Performance Measures: The goal of the CSP is to support the
creation and development of a large number of high-quality charter
schools that are free from State or local rules that inhibit flexible
operation, are held accountable for enabling students to reach
challenging State performance standards, and are open to all students.
The Secretary has set two performance indicators to measure this goal:
(1) The number of charter schools in operation around the Nation, and
(2) the percentage of charter school students who are achieving at or
above the proficient level on State examinations in mathematics and
reading. Additionally, the Secretary has established the following
measure to examine the efficiency of the CSP: Federal cost per student
in implementing a successful school (defined as a school in operation
for three or more years).
All grantees will be expected to submit an annual performance
report documenting their contribution in assisting the Department in
meeting these performance measures.
[[Page 68039]]
VII. Agency Contact
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dean Kern, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 4W227, Washington, DC 20202-
5961. Telephone: (202) 260-1882 or by e-mail: dean.kern@ed.gov.
If you use a TDD, call the FRS, toll free, at 1-800-877-8339.
VIII. Other Information
Alternative Format: Individuals with disabilities can obtain this
document and a copy of the application package in an alternative format
(e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer diskette) on
request to the program contact person listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT in section VII in this notice.
Electronic Access to This Document: You can view this document, as
well as all other documents of this Department published in the Federal
Register, in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) on the
Internet at the following site: www.ed.gov/news/fedregister.
To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available
free at this site. If you have questions about using PDF, call the U.S.
Government Printing Office (GPO), toll free, at 1-888-293-6498; or in
the Washington, DC, area at (202) 512-1530.
Note: The official version of this document is the document
published in the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the
official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal
Regulations is available on GPO Access at: www.gpoaccess.gov/nara/
index.html.
Dated: November 28, 2007.
Morgan S. Brown,
Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and Improvement.
[FR Doc. E7-23390 Filed 11-30-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P