Equitable Facilities Fund Commits $500 Million to Public Charter Schools Led by People of Color

The philanthropy-backed fund will provide low-cost, long-term financing directly to school leaders who reflect the communities they serve.

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Equitable Facilities Fund

Dec 09, 2021, 10:00 ET

NEW YORK, Dec. 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In a major step towards advancing educational equity for all students, Equitable Facilities Fund (EFF), a nonprofit social impact fund specializing in facilities financing for high-performing public charter schools, announced today that it is committing $500 million to public charter schools run by people of color. The funding will be fully disbursed by 2026 to provide low-cost loans for school facilities so that exceptional educators can establish deeper roots within their communities.

This new commitment will support approximately 30 leaders of color and 50,000 students in public charter school networks across the country. EFF estimates that the dedicated funding will save schools $100 million in the form of lower borrowing costs for their facilities compared to other financing sources. School leaders will direct the savings back into the classroom to provide support for students and teachers where it is needed most.

A Need for Diverse School Leadership and Equitable Financial Access

Research indicates that promoting diversity in public school leadership has lasting positive effects for students. A study conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins University and American University found that Black students who have just one Black teacher by third grade are 13% more likely to enroll in college. For low-income young Black men, they are 39% less likely to drop out of high school if they have had at least one teacher who looks like them. According to the Annenberg Institute at Brown University, one of the best methods of increasing and retaining diverse teachers is to hire more principals of color.

Despite the diverse student population served by charter schools, leaders of color frequently face barriers to accessing the financial resources and social networks needed to successfully launch, run and expand schools.

"The lack of affordable access to capital holds back our best schools from growing," said Anand Kesavan, founder and CEO of EFF. "As investors and as philanthropists, we've long been focused on how issues of race impact our work. Investing in communities of color can no longer be something we do as part of our business plan, it has to be our business plan. For EFF, quality public schools unlock opportunity, and school leaders sit at the very top of this value chain."

"The barriers school leaders of color encounter when it comes to starting and expanding great schools for their communities are real, significant and unjust," said Darryl Cobb, President of the Charter School Growth Fund (CSGF) and founder of CSGF's Emerging CMO Fund, which has connected school leaders of color to funding, resources and mentorship for nearly a decade. "EFF's dedicated financial commitment to these leaders signals a major shift in the way things can and should be done."

Transforming the Financing Landscape for High-Impact Schools

Over the past three years, EFF has provided $585 million in low-cost financing to support more than 100 public charter schools delivering transformative educational opportunities for students. Seventy percent of students in schools that have received EFF financing are considered economically disadvantaged, and 82% identify as people of color. Demonstrating the power of quality education, 94% of students in EFF schools outperform their district peers.

Roblin J. Webb, Founder and CEO of Freedom Preparatory Academy in Memphis, Tennessee describes obtaining quality school buildings as complicated, often involving exorbitant rent payments for district facilities that have been out of commission for decades. "As a woman of color trying to access the capital to purchase and renovate, I have to wait a little longer, I have to prove myself a little more. The people across the decision-making table don't look like me, and it's been really challenging navigating these networks," said Webb.

Freedom Prep is working with EFF to refinance its existing debt, purchase a fourth building, and renovate two facilities. The loan from EFF will allow the school to save millions to redirect toward high-quality teaching and learning. "In our city, 20% of Black adults have a four-year college degree," said Webb. "Education really is our modern-day civil rights movement. For me, graduation isn't my proudest day, it is College Acceptance Day. To see all these Black and Brown children holding up the pennants of the institutions that have accepted them, it doesn't get more rewarding than that."

EFF is supported by the Walton Family Foundation's Building Equity Initiative (BEI), an unprecedented effort to make it easier and more affordable for public charter schools to access equitable, affordable facilities funding.

To learn more about EFF's Leaders of Color Initiative and to apply, click here.

About Equitable Facilities Fund

Equitable Facilities Fund is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit social impact fund created to provide long-term, low-cost facility loans that allow high-performing public charter schools to maximize the resources they dedicate to students. High-quality public charter schools promote bright futures for children across America, and EFF believes these schools should borrow under terms comparable to traditional public school districts. EFF administers an 'A' rated revolving loan fund, which recapitalizes using funds from Equitable School Revolving Fund's bond issuances, to offer high-credit, long-term, scalable bond investment opportunities. To learn more, visit www.eqfund.org or email [email protected].

SOURCE Equitable Facilities Fund