The Charter School Bloom is Here. Will Impact Keep Up?

Charter Schools at a Crossroads

Charter schools are entering a pivotal moment. After years of modest, incremental growth, 2025 is expected to bring a surge in both resources and results. Federal and state leaders are backing charters in record numbers, while emerging data show measurable improvements in student outcomes. This alignment of funding momentum and performance metrics marks a pivotal turning point in strategy.

On the federal front, Secretary McMahon recently announced a $60 million increase to the Charter Schools Program (CSP), raising its FY 2025 total to $500 million. These funds aren’t just sitting idle; they’re already fueling grants for expansion and infrastructure, backed by a new “Model Development and Dissemination” competition aimed at scaling proven practices across the charter sector (U.S. Department of Education, May 2025).

At the state level, multiple hotspots are driving the wave. Texas increased public education funding by $8.5 billion, allocating nearly $500 million specifically for charter schools, including a notable $199 million for facilities (Gov. Abbot Press Release, June 2025). Meanwhile, other states, such as Idaho and Illinois, have enacted sizable increases in credit-enhancement and facility grants for charters, reflecting a broader trend of state-led investment (EdWeek Market Brief, June 2025).

This isn’t just about dollars, it’s about delivering results. Recent evaluations of school-level programs reflect encouraging trends in student attendance, engagement, and academic growth, setting the stage for a blog that unpacks:

1. Where the money is coming from (and whether it’s already approved or proposed)
   
   
2. What early data suggests about the impact
   
   
3. Why fidelity and program design will define how far this momentum can go

Follow the Money: Unlocking What Charter Funding is Meant to Do

New funding doesn’t mean much unless schools know how to access it—and more importantly, how to use it well. With hundreds of millions of dollars flowing from both federal and state sources, this surge of support is intended to do more than simply expand enrollment. It’s a chance to reinforce what’s working, replicate proven models, and fill longstanding gaps in facilities, staffing, and specialized programming.

What This Money Is Targeting

• Facilities and Infrastructure: At both the federal and state levels, funding for facilities is a standout priority. Texas’s $199 million allocation is specifically designed to help charter schools build or expand learning spaces, critical in a sector where physical infrastructure often lags behind demand. Similarly, the federal CSP includes a credit-enhancement program to help charters access more favorable financing for capital projects..
  
  
• Model Replication and Program Development: The U.S. Department of Education’s newly launched “Model Development and Dissemination” grant aims to identify and expand effective charter school practices, whether that means replicating a high-growth school model, launching a STEM-focused network, or building a system of wraparound supports that’s proven to work in high-need communities.
  
  
• State-Level Autonomy: Grants, such as the $107 million State Entity CSP competition (applications closed in June 2025), give funding control to SEAs and state charter boards, allowing for local discretion over which schools or networks should receive startup, replication, or expansion funds.

For Charter Leaders, This Is a Strategic Window

For CMOs, independent operators, and authorizers, the current environment favors those who are:

• Prepared to scale with evidence
  
  
• Actively measuring outcomes
  
  
• Ready to align proposals with federal and state goals (e.g., literacy improvement, college and career readiness, inclusive innovation)

Schools with strong data, clear instructional models, and a track record of engaging underserved populations are uniquely positioned to benefit from this funding moment.

From Dollars to Data: What Recent Results Tell Us About Charter School Impact

The promise of increased funding is only as powerful as what schools do with it. For many charter schools, this means investing in evidence-based programs that drive measurable student growth, particularly in core subjects such as math and literacy, where pandemic-related learning gaps persist.

One of the clearest success stories comes from Dayspring Academy, a Florida-based charter school that participated in the state’s Tutoring Advantage Pilot. 

In just 10 weeks, students receiving high-dosage math tutoring through Cignition logged:

• 91% attendance
  
  
• 11+ contact hours on average
  
  
• And a 46.6% growth score in academic progress across grades 2–5

At the Jazz campus, in particular, 5th-grade students achieved a remarkable 90.9% progress score, illustrating the power of structured, small-group virtual instruction to generate tangible outcomes, even within compressed timeframes.

Other charter schools show similar trends. In Ohio’s Accelerate Math randomized control trial, charter networks like OCA and Queen City Career Prep delivered tutoring at scale, with OCA students completing over 18,000 sessions and achieving a 72.8% academic progress growth score. Student survey responses consistently reflected high marks for:

• Tutor relationships (97.2%)
  
  
• Collaboration (96.8%)
  
  
• Conceptual understanding (95.9%)

The full formal results of the Accelerate Math RCT will be released soon, providing an even deeper look into the academic impact of high-dosage tutoring across participating sites.

These aren’t isolated results. They reflect a broader pattern: when charter schools pair their autonomy and flexibility with the right instructional partners, they can implement targeted, high-impact interventions more quickly and effectively than traditional systems often allow.

And critically, programs like these don’t require reinventing the wheel. With the right vendor, charter leaders can plug into proven, scalable models that provide:

1. Certified, experienced tutors
   
   
2. Standards-aligned curriculum
   
   
3. Engagement tracking
   
   
4. Clear outcome data for compliance and continuous improvement

In short, funding creates the opportunity. But partnerships create the outcomes.

Why Charter Schools Are Uniquely Positioned to Succeed

In a traditional public school system, simply allocating funds for a new intervention, whether it’s a digital learning platform, a literacy game, or a high-impact tutoring program, can involve a maze of bureaucratic hurdles. Procurement processes, board approvals, and competing priorities often delay or dilute implementation, even when funding is technically available.

Charter schools, on the other hand, typically operate with a leaner structure and greater autonomy. That flexibility matters, not just at the administrative level, but in how quickly they can act on data, adapt programs, and respond to the needs of their families. And more often than not, families chose to enroll their children in charter schools precisely because they were seeking something more: more support, more attention, and more opportunities.

This is where we’ve consistently seen some of the strongest growth. When that partnership between school, tutor, and parent is built the right way, outcomes follow. And because charter schools often serve smaller student populations, it’s easier to build those relationships and rally around a common goal.

We’ve even seen parents advocate to extend tutoring programs after funding sunsets, reaching out directly to schools to ask how they might continue services independently, because the growth they saw in their child was that meaningful. In other cases, it’s the student themselves driving the momentum, asking to continue attending sessions because they have finally gained confidence in math or are excited to read aloud in class.

But these results don’t happen by accident. They require:

• Consistent dosage — Three or more sessions per week is the threshold for high-impact tutoring, and hitting that dosage is essential for closing gaps.
  
  
• Educators who meet students where they are — Tutors must combine instructional skill with insight, knowing how to interpret both quantitative data and student behavior to guide learning.
  
  
• Curriculum that’s built for virtual delivery — Whether a charter school operates in-person or entirely online (as in the case of Ohio Connections Academy and others), content must align to both state standards and Common Core as needed, while being engaging enough to hold attention. It should be tailored to the school’s unique curricula needs.
  
  
• Transparent, shared data — Our dashboard isn’t just built for staff. It’s built for parents, too. When families are included in the process, they ask better questions, hold us all accountable, and help students feel seen and supported.
  
  
• Collaboration and support from fellow educators – Each of our Program and Client Success team members is an educator who understands the importance of maintaining open and meaningful communication in real-time, helping to ensure the program integrates seamlessly into the school culture.

We embed mastery checks into every lesson. We design sessions to ensure that students aren’t just logging in; they’re making progress. As tutoring becomes an increasingly significant part of the national strategy to combat chronic absenteeism, we’re seeing it pay dividends: when students feel confident, connected, and cared for, they're more likely to attend, not just tutoring sessions, but also school itself.

In short, charter schools aren’t just eligible for this moment...they’re equipped for it. And with the right partner, they can move faster and go further than most.

What’s Next: Strategic Opportunities for Charter Schools in 2025 - 2026

For charter school leaders, the upcoming year offers more than just an influx of funding. It’s a moment to set the tone for what sustained, measurable student growth can look like.

With federal CSP dollars available, state allocations expanding, and momentum continuing to build around evidence-based interventions, charter schools are uniquely positioned to act with urgency. Unlike traditional districts, they often have the flexibility to make swift decisions, pilot new solutions, and scale what works without getting lost in bureaucratic delays.

This is especially important when it comes to high-dosage tutoring. The research is clear: when tutoring is delivered consistently, by skilled educators, using aligned and standards-based materials, students make meaningful academic gains. But none of that happens automatically. It requires leadership teams who are intentional about how they utilize their autonomy and with whom they choose to partner.

Programs like ours have shown what’s possible. Schools that integrate tutoring into their broader academic strategy, not just as a temporary fix, are seeing results not only in test scores but in confidence, engagement, and attendance. And when families are brought into the process, as we’ve seen time and again, students don’t just show up—they thrive.

As 2025–2026 planning ramps up, the question isn’t whether charter schools have the opportunity; it's whether they can seize it. It’s whether they’re ready to take it and turn it into an impact that lasts.