Charter schools often issue their own tax-exempt bonds because they are not included in the local school district bonds for school construction. Charter schools have to pay a higher interest rate and that leaves less money for education programming. There are a few instances where charter schools have been able to be included in a school district or state bond offering.
This is another report in a series of State Policy Analyses for Public Charter School Facilities, exploring charter school inclusion in district bonds. By working together, charter schools and school districts achieve more favorable financing conditions. Many of these partnerships are voluntary and collaborative while others are mandated by regulations.
The purpose of this paper is to provide the charter school community and policy makers with lessons learned from these partnerships to expand the practice of including charter schools in district and state bond offerings.