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After reserving one percent of the appropriation for management and oversight, the Department of Education (ED) will award $39.6 million to 179 local educational agencies (LEAs) that are eligible as a result of their enrollment of certain numbers and types of federally connected children for whom they receive funds under section 8003 of the Impact Aid Program (Basic Support Payments).

After reserving one percent of the appropriation for management and oversight, ED will distribute $59.4 million in competitive Impact Aid Construction grants.

In addition to the direct spending increases, several tax portions of the bill can benefit public charter schools, including a newly-authorized $22 billion school construction bond program, $10 billion to the New Markets Tax Credit Program, $25 billion in recovery zone bonds, and $1.4 billion in new funding to the Qualified Zone Academy Bonds - all tools charters will be able to tap to finance facilities. Additionally, several reform-oriented programs received new funding in this bill, including $200 million for the Teacher Incentive Fund and $250 million for the development of State Wide Longitudinal Data Systems. The Credit Enhancement for Charter School Facilities Program unfortunately did not receive any new funding and will rely on its FY09 appropriations until a new appropriation is made in FY10.

In its fiscal 2010 budget proposal, the administration justified the change by pointing to a $10 billion increase that the Title I grant program for districts received in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the stimulus measure that passed in February and that includes up to $100 billion for education, spread out over fiscal years 2009 and 2010.

“For this year and next year, things are fine,” he told the education secretary at the June 3 hearing. “You can say, well, this is OK because we have all this money in the [stimulus program]. But the problem with that is, you cut the base. If you cut the base this year, you have to make all that up” in fiscal 2011.

And, at a hearing later that same day, Rep. Obey expressed concern that the proposal could lessen the impact of the Title I money in the stimulus package because districts would have to use that money to “backfill” the difference between their 2009 and 2010 allocations.