Some States Help Charter Schools Put a Roof Overhead

By Jessica L. Sandham

For the Compass Montessori School in Wheat Ridge, Colo., a new state program that provides direct aid for charter school facilities means the school's leaders can spend more money on instruction and less on paying off the purchase of a converted fruit market.

In the three years since Compass Montessori opened, organizers of the 230-student charter elementary school near Denver have managed to housestudents on a shoestring: buying a vacant farmers' market with an $800,000 bond, using parent volunteers to install wiring and paint walls, and securing tax-exempt status to pay for a recent addition at a lower interest rate.

Now, the burden of their debt payments will be eased by a $5.3 million charter facilities program signed into law in April by Gov. Bill Owens. The program gives charter schools $322 per pupil every year to...