There are many news articles attacking charter schools for taking advantage of Congress’ Paycheck Protection Program. What many don’t realize is that charters do not have access to other federal aid or low-cost financing options like traditional schools have.
In anticipation of stay at home orders, we surveyed our students (at-risk and former dropouts, socio-economically challenged, students of color and special needs) to understand their technology capabilities and access. We learned that more than 85% of our 23,000 students did not have a device or access to internet outside of school.
We incurred significant unbudgeted costs to continue learning uninterrupted.