Our history and funding

The Charter Support Unit began as an objective of Florida’s 2011-16 Charter Schools Program (CSP) grant with the U.S. Department of Education. The grant proposed the implementation of a “Charter Support Unit” (CSU) for the purpose of providing short-term, intensive, and targeted support for start-up and new charter schools. The grant detailed that the CSU would be staffed by experienced educational professionals with expertise in curriculum, instruction, finance, governance, and leadership. The Florida Department of Education contracted with the nonprofit organization Building Hope to operate the CSU. Florida’s support continued on 2018 with a general appropriation to continue the work of the CSU, and was again included and expanded in Florida’s 2020-3025 federal Charter Schools Program grant as a significant component of the state’s technical assistance budget moving forward.

In 2018 the U.S. Department of Education awarded Building Hope a grant to expand the services of the Charter Support Unit to additional locations throughout the country. With the support from the U.S. Department of Education grant and a grant from the Walton Family Foundation, the CSU formally expanded to Texas in 2019.

The CSU provides support to charter schools in the first few years of operation, and our experts are available to conduct site assessments and provide recommendations for charter school improvement. The CSU’s resources and services are largely free to charter schools, but our more time-intensive services may entail a fee.