CHARTER SCHOOLS DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION AWARDED $70 MILLION BOND LOAN THROUGH U.S. TREASURY BOND GUARANTEE PROGRAM
(Hanover, MD, October 4, 2022) The Charter Schools Development Corporation (CSDC) announced today that it was awarded a $70 million bond loan from the United States Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) Bond Guarantee Program (BGP). The CDFI Fund is issuing three guarantees totaling $355 million, the largest issuance in the program’s history.
CSDC is one of three CDFIs in a multi-party bond totaling $130 million, with Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) as the Qualified Issuer. In addition to CSDC, OFN will issue a $10 million bond to Community Ventures and a $50 million bond to Greater Minnesota Housing Fund.
This bond will enable CSDC to put long-term, low-cost, fixed-rate capital to work nationally to fund charter school facilities in underserved and distressed communities.
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About the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program
Established by the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program responds to a critical market need-low-cost capital to spur economic growth and jump start community revitalization. Under the program, Qualified Issuers (CDFIs or their designees) apply to the CDFI Fund for authorization to issue guaranteed bonds worth a minimum of $100 million in total. The bonds provide CDFIs with access to substantial long-term, fixed-rate capital to reignite the economies of distressed communities.
The program enables CDFIs to execute large-scale projects, including the development of commercial real estate, housing units, charter schools, daycare or healthcare centers, and rural infrastructure projects, among other assets. As of August 31, 2022, more than $1.4 billion in bond proceeds has been disbursed in 32 states and the District of Columbia.
ALAN WASHINGTON TO BECOME PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF CHARTER SCHOOLS DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
(Hanover, MD, August 1, 2022) The Charter Schools Development Corporation (CSDC) announced today that, effective September 14, 2022, Alan Washington will become President and Chief Executive Officer of CSDC. Washington comes to CSDC having recently served as Executive of Real Estate at Success Academy Charter Schools, responsible for developing and overseeing Success Academy’s entire real estate portfolio, including acquisitions, design, construction, and asset management.
“On behalf of the Board of CSDC, we are extremely happy to have Alan join us as our next CEO,” said Michael Curran, Chairman of the Board. “The search process was quite extensive and a large number of candidates were considered. We were focused on finding someone who is a “builder” and who exemplifies all the traits of a great leader. Alan possesses all of these abilities and traits and combines them with a collaborative and team-oriented approach that embraces the interests of all stakeholders both externally and internally. We were highly impressed with Alan upon first meeting which grew as the process moved forward. We are highly confident that Alan will be a great leader as we enter the next chapter of CSDC’s evolution.”
“I am thrilled and honored to be named CSDC’s next CEO,” Washington said. “For over 25 years, CSDC has been a leader in financing and building charter school communities across the United States. I am excited to lead the organization through its next phase. Most importantly, I look forward to joining the best group of professionals in the business, and collaborating with an incredibly impressive and supportive board.”
Tom Nida Award
The Charter Schools Development Corporation (CSDC) today announced the awarding of the first ever Tom Nida Charter School Innovation and Academic Excellence Award to three outstanding charter schools from across the country. The Tom Nida Award was created to honor Tom Nida, a nationally recognized expert and innovator in public charter school financing who served nearly two decades as Chair of CSDC’s Board of Directors before retiring from that position earlier this year. This competitive award recognizes and supports charter schools participating in one of CSDC’s facilities programs and displaying outstanding achievement in the areas of financial performance, academics and leadership and governance.
The Founding Friends Library
To celebrate the 30th year of charter public schools, we are launching a first-of-its-kind website during May 2021 National Charter Schools Week! The new stand-alone Founders Library website is the only resource of its kind to record the 30-year history of chartering across the nation in original words and documents of chartering pioneers. Over 20 leading chartering pioneers have already made this website home to their oral histories or documents to preserve the legacy of the chartering Idea. And we are just getting started!
Tracing the Path of Charter School Facilities With the Lawmaker Who Passed the Nation’s First Charter School Law
When former Minnesota State Senator Ember Reichgott Junge traveled the tumultuous journey to pass the first charter school law in the nation on June 4, 1991, the issue of charter school facilities was rarely mentioned in any debate. “Legislators assumed that charter schools would have access to existing school facilities or other buildings,” she recalled. But, of course, that has not been the case.
It was clear that charter schools needed financing and other funding to build the kind of facilities their students deserve. Despite all the advances in the chartering facilities arena over 30 years, studies show facilities to still be the greatest barrier to establishing and expanding charter schools. Read more about the history of public charter school facility funding, and current efforts to improve the sector.
Find Reichgott Junge and Michelle Prosperi’s article, exclusive to School Improvement Partnership, here: Charter Schools at Age 30: Can Facilities Keep Up?
