LISC Awarded $8.2 Million Grant to Support Charter School Financing Program
13 Jun 2006 - Albany, NY
U.S. Department of Education provides third grant for LISC’s Educational Facilities Financing Center
Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), the nation’s leading community development support organization, today announced that it has received an $8.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education (ED), the largest grant awarded through the 2006 Credit Enhancement for Charter School Facilities Program. This award is in addition to $10 million LISC was awarded by the ED in 2003 and 2004, bringing LISC's total award to $18.2 million.
The funds will support LISC’s Educational Facilities Financing Center (EFFC), which provides financing for quality public charter and alternative schools in low-income neighborhoods nationwide.
"This grant from the U.S. Department of Education confirms LISC’s increasingly important role in charter school development," said Elise Balboni, the EFFC’s program director, at a ceremony in Albany announcing the award. "These federal funds will help LISC to raise additional funds from private sector lenders and other community partners to support quality public schools across the country, as we did here in Albany with KIPP Tech Valley Charter School."
LISC established its Educational Facilities Financing Center in 2003 to intensify its national effort in the area of educational facilities financing as a key component of community development. LISC invests in the development of educational funds that finance multiple school projects in specific markets and provides on-the-ground assistance to individual charter schools through its network of 33 local offices. With support from Prudential Financial and the Walton Family Foundation, the EFFC has employed its existing ED grant funds in seven unique local fund investments that will provide more than $200 million in facility financing to charter schools nationwide.
"The ED’s Credit Enhancement Program has been indispensable in expanding the financing market for charter school facilities," said Balboni. "With its support, LISC has been able to attract traditional lenders to the sector and create innovative models that can be replicated nationwide."
"We are honored that the Department of Education continues to show confidence in our ability to bridge the facilities gap for charter schools," said Michael Rubinger, LISC’s President and CEO. "The Department’s Credit Enhancement Program has been a major stimulant to the public-private partnerships required to unlock the flow of private capital, produce a tenable educational reform model and provide low-income Americans with quality public educational opportunities."