913 8roadway, SulLe 110, Albany, new ?

ork 12207
Cfflce: (318) 694-3110 1oll lree: (833)694-3110
lax: (318) 694-3113
www.necharLers.org


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A charLer school's prlmary source of fundlng comes from Lhe school dlsLrlcL(s) of resldence of Lhe
sLudenLs aLLendlng Lhe school, pursuanL Lo LducaLlon Law 2836(1). &678 9:;<7;= 9>?@:AB B@>:;C8 C>
>;AD BEE?>F7@BCGAD CH>IC67?<8 >9 C6G 8EG;<7;= AGJGA C6BC 8K6>>A <78C?7KC8 8EG;< EG? 8C:<G;C slnce lL
does noL counL faclllLy and debL servlce cosLs, and skews Lhe hlgher welghLlngs for speclal educaLlon and
hlgh school sLudenLs agalnsL Lhe charLer schools.
1hls fundlng ls calculaLed by Lhe SLaLe LducaLlon ueparLmenL for each school dlsLrlcL ln Lhe followlng
way:
ulvldlng a dlsLrlcL's Approved CperaLlng Lxpenses by Lhe 1oLal Aldable upll unlLs for Lhe year
prlor Lo Lhe base year," l.e., Lhe sLaLuLory meLhod of operaLlng expenses on a per pupll basls,
and
lncreaslng Lhls amounL by Lhe Lwo-year growLh raLe ln sLaLewlde Approved CperaLlng Lxpenses
from Lwo years prlor Lo Lhe base year Lo Lhe base year. 1hls lnflaLlonary facLor ls necessary slnce
Lhe expendlLure amounLs are ouLdaLed when deLermlnlng Lhe nexL year's charLer school
paymenLs.

lL ls lmporLanL Lo noLe LhaL Lhere are numerous ways Lo calculaLe school dlsLrlcL spendlng on a per pupll
basls by, for example, uslng acLual enrollmenL or Average ually ALLendance, or lncludlng !"" dlsLrlcL
expenses raLher Lhan a subseL of operaLlng cosLs. 1he calculaLlon for charLer schools (ACL/1Au) ls Lhe
smallesL such calculaLlon for Lwo baslc reasons:
Approved CperaLlng Lxpenses do noL capLure all operaLlng expenses and also excludes caplLal
and debL servlce, pursuanL Lo LducaLlon Law 3602(1)(L), and
1oLal Aldable upll unlLs, ln Lhe formula's denomlnaLor, lnflaLes Lhe number of acLual sLudenLs
based on hlgher welghLlngs" glven Lo speclal educaLlon and hlgh school sLudenLs -- Lhereby
"#$%&'() Lhe expendlLure calculaLlon for charLer schools buL arguably mosL reflecLlve of dlsLrlcL's
spendlng slnce hlgher welghLed sLudenLs generaLe greaLer expenses shown ln Lhe numeraLor.

CharLer schools, Lherefore, do noL recelve near Lhe acLual cosL per sLudenL LhaL Lhe school dlsLrlcLs
spend ln Lhelr own schools. lnsLead, charLer school ACL/1Au revenue amounLs Lo approxlmaLely Lwo-
Lhlrds of Lhe amounL school dlsLrlcLs spend per sLudenL. When ln-klnd dlsLrlcL servlces Lo charLer schools
are added-lncludlng LransporLaLlon, LexLbook and sofLware loans, and llmlLed nurslng servlces-charLer
schools recelve approxlmaLely 73 percenL of Lhe dlsLrlcL expendlLures per sLudenL.


1he componenLs of Lhe charLer school paymenL formula are as follows:
Approved CperaLlng Lxpense (ACL): All cash expendlLures excludlng caplLal, debL servlce,
federal funds, cerLaln 8CCLS paymenLs, renLals recelved, LransporLaLlon and oLher lLems.
1oLal Aldable upll unlLs (1Au): 1he calculaLlon of sLudenLs based on varlous welghLlngs"
glven a sLudenL dependlng on Lhe placemenL or clrcumsLances, whlch generaLes lncreased sLaLe
ald, for example, sLudenLs wlLh dlsablllLles are welghLed as greaLer Lhan one, wlLh lncreased
welghL glven Lo hlgher needs sLudenLs and each hlgh school sLudenL ls consldered 1.23 for sLaLe
ald purposes.
8ase ?ear: LffecLlvely, Lhls ls Lhe school year prlor Lo Lhe year for whlch Lhe ACL/1Au paymenL
ls calculaLed, for example, lf Lhe ACL/1Au paymenL ls belng calculaLed for Lhe 2009-10 school
year, Lhe base year would be one year prlor, or 2008-09. Cne year prlor Lo Lhe base year Lhus
would be 2007-08.
CrowLh ln SLaLewlde ACL: Approved CperaLlng Lxpenses are calculaLed annually on a sLaLewlde
basls as an aggregaLe measure of annual operaLlng spendlng for all school dlsLrlcLs. Slnce
calculaLlng ACL/1Au uses spendlng flgures LhaL are daLed, Lhe law provldes a Lwo-year growLh
raLe ln Lhe *+!+%$',% ACL Lo be applled Lo Lhe laLesL dlsLrlcL ACL/1Au flgure, whlch ls Lwo
years prlor Lo Lhe year belng calculaLed, or one year prlor Lo Lhe base year.


4'%(4'"&/L'(
Several perspecLlves Lo keep ln mlnd:
1) School dlsLrlcLs noL only spend more on dlsLrlcL sLudenLs Lhan charLer schools recelve, buL
resldenL charLer school sLudenLs are counLed ln a dlsLrlcL's enrollmenL counL for sLaLe ald
purposes.

2) SLaLe LranslLlonal ald Lo cerLaln dlsLrlcLs based on paymenLs Lo charLer schools furLher
lncreases Lhelr resources even Lhough Lhe sLudenL(s) deparLed Lo Lhe charLer school.