Charter School Special Education Finance Project

Charter School Special Education Finance Project

The Center launched a special education finance initiative in response to the urgent need for stakeholders to better understand how special education is funded in the charter sector. The initiative establishes a new level of transparency and knowledge regarding how special education is funded in the sector in order to increase investments in quality programs for students with disabilities. For each state with a charter school law, we describe how charter schools are funded and how federal, state, and local funds flow to charter schools to support special education and related services. Click on the map below to learn more about special education finance in your state.

Background on Initiative

Understanding special education finance and more specifically, accessing and optimizing federal, state, and local revenue streams is critical to charter schools successfully enrolling and educating students with disabilities. However, across the 44 states with charter school laws, there is significant confusion and lack of transparency regarding not only how, but also how much funding, charter schools receive to support provision of special education programs.

Focused Reports

Curious about how other states compare? Take a look at our reports that combine the data:

Also, read our issue brief about Local Education Agency Status and learn more about special education funding in our report: “Getting Lost While Trying to  Find the Money: Special Education Finance in Charter Schools.” 

You can learn more about our latest recommendations for special education funding in “Show Me the Money: Re-Imagining Funding for the Education of Students with Disabilities”, a brief released in September 2022.

Methodology & Definitions

Learn more about our methodology, and understand key terms and concepts that will help you understand the data.