Non-Traditional Financing Options
Examine Non-Traditional Financing Options and Research Public/Private Opportunities
As regards the complex and contentious issue of the potential for and consequences of urban faith-based schools systematically partnering with the growing market of K-12 charter schools, it has become clear that we must carefully define the contours and ambitions of any such partnership and examine its inherent risks and opportunities before any substantial action is taken.
It is essential to acknowledge that the question consists of two separate but nonetheless complementary issues. The first, which is essentially a facilities issue, deals with the ongoing practice of charter leasing, whereby a faith-based school system (often a Catholic school), in an effort to use the resulting revenue to advance its faith-based educational mission elsewhere, leases a portion of its facilities to a charter operation animated by values-based education. The second, which is essentially an operationsissue, deals with the complicated question of the viability of a Catholic charter “wrap-around” or “hybrid” school; a model in which a school is run as a legally permissible and state certified charter operation during the course of the standard school day, and a comprehensive and voluntary faith formation program (possibly financed through tuition, subsidization and private giving) is offered before and after the school day.