6c6f9896_nce_for_Public_Charter_Schools__Charter_Law_Description
[State] Minnesota [Score] 4 [Charter Law Description] 
Minnesota law provides that a charter school earns general education revenue on a per pupil unit basis just as though it were a school district except for approximately $255 per pupil unit (4.85 percent of the basic formula allowance) for transportation expenses, which the charter school receives only if it provides transportation services. The general education revenue paid to a charter school is paid entirely through state aid. The law provides that charter schools as LEAs have equal access to all applicable categorical funding. Minnesota law’s funding formula provides dollars for transportation to charter schools and gives charter schools the option of providing transportation and keeping the transportation funds or requesting the traditional district to provide transportation and then paying those funds to that district in which the school is physically located. In a national study of charter school funding (University of Arkansas, Charter School Funding: Inequity Expands, 2014), Minnesota charter schools were receiving on average $10,937 per pupil in public funds, while traditional public schools would have received $13,918 for those students. As a result, the state’s charter schools were receiving $2,981 per pupil—or 21.4 percent—less than what the traditional public schools would have received for those students. This figure includes all sources of funding, and the analysis reveals some continued inequities for both operational and capital funding (see Component #19 for information on capital issues).
18. Equitable Operational Funding and Equal Access to All State and Federal Categorical Funding | National Alliance for Public Charter Schools
Charter Law Description