Financial Freedom

Flexibility comes at a price for charter schools, whose operators frequently face protracted battles over funding.

By Caroline Hendrie

Pueblo, Colo.

Since returning from teaching at Harvard University to start a charter school in his hometown, Lawrence P. Hernandez has become well-known for two things: coaxing top-flight test scores from his mostly low-income and Latino students, and fighting like a pit bull for the money to do it.

Now in its fourth year, the Cesar Chavez Academy consistently outshines the city’s regular public schools on state tests, posting scores last year that placed it in the top 10 of Colorado schools receiving federal Title I anti-poverty aid. Particularly noteworthy were last spring’s 3rd graders: All scored at or above the “proficient” level on the state’s reading exam.

Achieving those results—in a pre-K-8 school where more than two-thirds of students come from poor families and more than three-fourths are Hispanic—has required a relentless focus on student performance, Hernandez says. But while academics top his priority list, finances take a close second. Much of his energy has been consumed by recurrent battles with the local school board over money. Equally important has been figuring out how to spend those hard-fought resources to get the most academic...