6c6f9896_nce_for_Public_Charter_Schools__Charter_Law_Description
[State] Idaho [Score] 4 [Charter Law Description] 
Idaho law provides that charter schools are funded by the same state formula as district schools for operational funding, but they do not receive any local tax revenues or supplemental levies. The law limits charter school public funding to state sources and any federal dollars that schools qualify for. The state funding formula does not compensate for charters’ lack of access to local revenues. The law entitles each charter school to receive an advance payment from the state of 25 percent of its estimated per-pupil funding in the summer before its first year and each subsequent year in which the school expands enrollment by at least 20 students. It also provides that subsequent payments are to be made in the same manner as for district schools. Idaho law provides that charter schools designated as LEAs receive federal funds directly. The law provides that charter schools must receive from the state 85% of their actual cost for student transportation, provided on a reimbursement basis in July for the previous school year. A national study of charter school funding (University of Arkansas, Charter School Funding: Inequity Expands, 2014) found that Idaho charter schools were receiving on average $5,669 per pupil in public funds, while districts would have received $7,949 per pupil to educate those students. Thus, charter schools were receiving $2,280—or 28.6 percent—less per pupil than districts would have received to educate those students. This comparison includes all sources of funding. The gap between charter and district per-pupil funding is largely attributable to charters’ lack of access to (1) local revenues, and (2) capital and debt service funds. (See Component #19 for information on capital funding).
18. Equitable Operational Funding and Equal Access to All State and Federal Categorical Funding | National Alliance for Public Charter Schools
Charter Law Description