Florida Charter School Growth Fund

The Florida Charter School Growth Fund (Florida-CSGF) was founded in conjunction with the Charter School Growth Fund, the Florida Department of Education, and private funders to create and expand high-performing Charter Management Organizations (CMOs) throughout Florida. The focus of Florida-CSGF's work is to invest in the creation of great new charter schools to serve primarily low-income and minority students who are struggling in the bottom 5% of Florida's schools.  See announcement and press coverage about the new Fund.

Florida-CSGF will invest $30 million to develop and expand CMOs which, combined, will open up to 30 new schools in the next five years. To accomplish this goal, Florida-CSGF is seeking to identify high-performing charter schools and CMOs throughout the state of Florida interested in significantly expanding their impact. Successful applicants will be eligible for assistance in business planning and access to multi-year funding to support replication.

Florida-CSGF Investment Approach

Florida-CSGF only invests in CMOs and stand-alone schools hoping to grow into CMOs with a track record of academic success. First, Florida-CSGF supports organizations through strategic planning, offering business planning grants and the guidance of the Florida-CSGF staff. Through the evaluation of strategic business plans and management teams, Florida-CSGF will use a staged and flexible approach to its investments - making larger commitments to the most proven models looking to rapidly scale and smaller commitments to younger organizations with great promise.

Candidate Qualifications

Florida-CSGF's evaluation of candidates will revolve around our three investment pillars and our analysis of the management team's ability to execute the strategic plan:

• Academics: Strong candidates will demonstrate exceptional student outcomes
• Growth: Strong candidates will have a vision for increasing their impact through replication
• Sustainability: Strong candidates must be committed to operational efficiency and ultimate sustainability on public revenue

How to Apply

Applications are accepted online throughout the year and are evaluated on a rolling basis. All applications are considered in an objective and anonymous process. To determine if your organization qualifies for investment consideration, refer to the application eligibility requirements.

The application process requires four elements:

1. Creation of Applicant Profile: Florida-CSGF requires all applicants to establish a log-in and password for the Applicant Portal as well as upload basic entity data. At this time, you will be asked to include basic school and management information.
2. Academic and Enrollment Data Submissions: Once an Applicant Profile is created, organizations must upload at least 3-5 years of State Test Data for evaluation, using the Cohort Data Template provided by CSGF. Although proficiency band breakdowns are reported to the state in percentages, they MUST be converted to raw numbers before the template is submitted to CSGF. Applicants with more than five years of data should contact CSGF regarding questions or submission difficulties. High school operators should also include all college entrance exam, high school graduation, and college progression data in the template provided.
   
   Upon completion, templates can be uploaded to the Applicant Portal using the ID assigned during registration.
   Please Note: Student level data is not required for those organizations that do not currently administer a national normed reference test.
3. Enrollment & Demographic Data Submissions: In addition to the submission of academic data, applicants will be asked to submit data related to demographics, enrollment, and staffing. Applicants can submit these data through the Applicant Portal through the manual interface, or through an Excel-generated template downloadable through the portal. Newer organizations are required to submit data since their inception, and older organizations must submit data for at least six years.
4. Operational Data Submission: Upon the receipt of your academic and enrollment data, applicants will be asked to submit additional operational data regarding school leadership and finances.

When an applicant passes through the academic data screen, Florida-CSGF conducts an initial interview and decides whether to enter into strategic planning and/or due diligence.

If you have any questions regarding the application process, please refer to the posted FAQs. If you still have questions after reviewing these materials, please email Florida-CSGF@chartergrowthfund.org or call (855) 290-3553 .