Ohio is about to reveal which charter schools will share nearly $105 million in federal grant money over the next five years, funding meant to help these privately operated schools expand and improve their buildings. The state applied for the money last year, and an announcement on which schools made the cut is expected soon.
The federal dollars, first announced during a visit to Columbus by U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon on September 25, 2025, include two separate grants, according to Cleveland.com. The Charter School Facilities Incentive Grant carries $47.5 million, while the Charter Schools Program Grant carries $50 million, with individual awards capped at $2 million over five years. Ohio's charter schools are formally known as community schools under state law, and they receive public money despite being privately operated, per the same report. McMahon's announcement came alongside Governor Mike DeWine and U.S. Senator Bernie Moreno, according to Statehouse News Bureau, and the $105 million is part of a larger $500 million federal Charter Schools Program package distributed nationwide under the Trump administration in fiscal year 2025.
Competition for the money was steep. The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce received 38 applications for the facilities grant and 22 schools applied for the Charter Schools Program grant, according to the Cleveland.com report, which notes that federal charter-school funding is competitive by design. The state itself will determine how the grant dollars are ultimately put to use, and it can spend some of the federal funding on hands-on support, expert advice and training for participating schools.
What Schools Have to Prove to Qualify
Facilities-grant applicants must demonstrate school report-card marks that meet or exceed state expectations, or show improving year-over-year student performance, along with an immediate need for facility money, per Cleveland.com. Schools considered for the Charter Schools Program grant include existing high-quality schools seeking to expand, as well as new schools or replacements for existing high-quality models, with high-quality designation based on report-card performance, early-literacy focus and other criteria.
State rules add another layer of screening on top of the federal criteria. According to guidance from the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, a school must meet federal and state definitions of high quality to qualify for federal funding. The department received applications for the two grants.
A Sliding Scale That Eventually Runs Out
The facilities money doesn't last forever at full strength. Federal matching funds under the Charter School Facilities Incentive Grant decrease on a sliding scale from 90% in year one down to 20% in year five before expiring completely, according to Ohio Department of Education and Workforce guidance published in July 2026. That money can be used for rent, building or land purchases, construction, renovations, leased-property upgrades and school debt repayment, per Cleveland.com's reporting.
State law also gives charter operators a leg up when it comes to snagging vacant school buildings. Ohio Revised Code § 3313.411 gives charter school governing authorities a statutory right of first refusal to buy unused traditional public school buildings at fair market value before districts can offer them for public sale, according to an official grant filing by the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce.
Aaron Churchill, Ohio research director for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, said the federal government has funded efforts to start quality new schools in American communities, and that Ohio had a good plan that ultimately received federal money. The Fordham Institute, which supports school choice, has discussed Ohio's public charter schools, putting the incoming grant money in the context of the sector's overall size.
Performance Gaps and Fresh Scrutiny
Not everyone is cheering the expansion. Analysis from former state lawmaker Stephen Dyer showed that Ohio charter schools had an overall average graduation rate of 69.4%, compared to 86.8% for traditional public school districts, according to Statehouse News Bureau's September 2025 reporting — a gap critics point to when questioning whether charter funding should keep growing.
The grant rollout also arrives alongside fresh accountability concerns, with WKYC reporting that the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce flagged 14 Northeast Ohio charter schools and four traditional public schools for state review after discovering significant testing anomalies on spring 2026 state standardized tests. Separately, Ohio operates a state-funded Quality Community School Support Fund providing up to $3,000 per economically disadvantaged student to top-performing charters, a program that funded 23% of brick-and-mortar charter schools during the 2024–25 school year, according to data from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.
With the state now set to announce which schools will actually receive shares of the nearly $105 million, families and school leaders across Ohio are watching to see whether the facility upgrades and expansion dollars land in their own communities — and whether the accountability standards attached to the money hold up under continued scrutiny.
