<p>The topic of educational spending and its connection to student achievement was long-debated before charter schools entered the conversation. With the rise in government spending on education, particularly charter school funding, the financial debate has strengthened and evoked much controversy. Though the Tennessee Department of Education (TNDOE) had some of the most demanding charter school laws in the country in 2011, it wasn&rsquo;t immune to the firestorm of debate as the number of open charters grew to forty-nine during the 2012&ndash;13 school year. Along with the charter school movement in Tennessee came the issuing of charter school grants. To assist in the opening of charter schools in the state, the TNDOE began distributing $600,000&ndash;700,000 allotments of a $22 billion United States Department of Education Charter Schools Program (CSP) grant. Charters could apply for a CSP grant to offset start-up costs associated with opening a charter to supplement the basic education funding (BEP) given to each school based on student enrollment. </p><p> This research evaluates the CSP grant spending in six Tennessee charter schools serving grades 5&ndash;8 during each year of the three-year life of the grant while evaluating spending patterns into the categories of instruction, supplies, facilities, and technology. While evaluating only CSP grant spending in the school&rsquo;s total budget, findings from this research suggest that year one targeted spending in the area of instruction from CSP grants in Tennessee has a positive correlation with student achievement and school sustainability. </p>