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TRF’s charter school lending targets resources to benefit students that most need school choice by financing schools that serve low-income communities.TRF helps charter schools consider long-term facility needs in addition to providing financing options for each step of the project. With this extensive experience, TRF helps borrowers to think through their school’s entire evolution. TRF loans are available to finance many types of facility projects, including predevelopment, acquisition, renovation, construction and leasehold improvements. In addition, TRF offers charter school borrowers additional services such as energy efficiency and facility feasibility technical assistance.
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TRF is a leading lender to charter schools in the Mid-Atlantic region. As of June 2011, TRF has closed over $230 million in loans to 71 charter schools in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and Washington, DC. Together, schools financed by TRF enroll more than 33,700 students – the majority of whom qualify for free or reduced-price lunch per Title I guidelines.
TRF is recognized as an innovator and market maker, identifying product niches that traditional lenders find to be too unpredictable or risky. TRF’s lending to charter schools – public schools that receive funding from public sources but must locate and finance their own building – serves as primary example. Ten years ago, charter schools were viewed as an “emerging market” and access to capital was extremely limited. TRF took the early risk, building the field from a high-risk boutique product to a conventionally accepted credit opportunity in the capital markets. Today, TRF remains a patient and reliable source of capital to this important industry that brings educational choice to low-income communities.
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TRF can help educators assess specific programs that benefit low-income students. For example, in Philadelphia, TRF worked with the School District to estimate the percentage of students that are income-eligible for free or reduced-price lunches in each of its schools. Using the estimates, the School District is able to provide free lunch to all students in selected schools without requiring the usual paper application process. Another 2009 study, School Quality and Housing Prices, measures school quality in Philadelphia and quantifies this impact on the city’s residential real estate values. Findings indicate that elementary school test scores play a significant role in the prediction of sales price, even after controlling for neighborhood and individual home conditions. In addition, developers, nonprofits and local governments can conduct their own research and analysis using TRF’s online interactive map tool PolicyMap. Using Geographic Information Systems technology, PolicyMap displays key social and economic statistics for U.S. communities down to the micro level. Those invested in charter school advancement can access data on school performance, free and reduced-price lunch, and overall student proficiency through PolicyMap. Using this data and the accompanying visualization, education innovators can better undertake the work of ensuring positive learning environments for students across the U.S.
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and Capital at the Point of Impact are service marks of The Reinvestment Fund.
