Banking Giant Offers Financing for Charter Schools

JPMorgan Chase says funds will underwrite 40 schools.

JPMorgan Chase & Co., a global financial-services company, has announced a $325 million effort to support building, expanding, and renovating charter school facilities.

In a press release , the company said it would give $50 million in grants to community-development financial institutions to support charter schools. The company will also provide about $175 million in debt financing and about $100 million in “new markets tax-credit equity” for charter schools. It estimates the financing will help underwrite about 40 charter schools. The program is aimed at schools that already have a strong academic track record and have had their charter renewed at least once, or at established charter operators that want to launch new schools.

The company took out a full-page advertisement in The New York Times on May 27 announcing the initiative. It also ran an ad in The Washington Post .