Contributor Columns

Tony Roberts highlights the urgent need for charter schools to prepare for potential Supreme Court rulings affecting public funding and advocates for coordinated ballot initiatives nationwide.

The District of Columbia has improved public school performance significantly, rising in national rankings due to charter school reforms, despite ongoing challenges for disadvantaged students’ academic success.

The potential elimination of tax-exempt bonds in Congress poses significant risks to public charter schools, increasing borrowing costs, market volatility, and limited access to essential financing resources.

Good morning, CharterFolk. Today we are pleased to share a Contributor Column from Aimee Evan, Senior Research Associate and School Improvement Specialist at WestEd. We provide an introduction from Aimee below. I’m a Senior Research Associate and School Improvement Specialist at WestEd. My work centers on partnering with school and system-level leaders to elevate the

Greg Richmond, Superintendent of Schools for the Archdiocese of Chicago, argues against the establishment of religious charter schools. He believes they would compromise the core religious identity and operational autonomy of Catholic schools, introducing burdensome regulations and political interference. Ultimately, he concludes such schools would harm, rather than help, religious education.

Jennifer Stern, CEO of Great MN Schools, advocates for educational reform to enhance opportunities for BIPOC students in Minneapolis. Her organization aims to triple student enrollment in high-quality schools by 2030 through the “Good to Great” initiative, which partners with schools to improve academic outcomes, particularly after COVID-19 disruptions.

Good day, CharterFolk. Today’s Contributor Column requires a little context. Long time readers of CharterFolk will remember a Contributor Column that has had particularly strong impact. The Missing Charter Leaders: ¿Dónde están los Latinos y las Latinas? has helped catalyze the creation of a new organization — Latino Educators Advancing Leadership — which is committed

Andrew Broy, President of the Illinois Network of Charter Schools, emphasizes the critical role of governance in charter school success. He contrasts stable nonprofit governance with the instability of Chicago Public Schools leadership, highlighting that strong governance correlates with better educational outcomes, particularly for low-income and minority students in Illinois.

Good morning, CharterFolk. Today we are pleased to share a Contributor Column from Lyman Millard, who is a Partner at the Bloomwell Group. We provide a bio for Lyman below. Lyman Millard has been working to help connect families with better school options for more than 25 years. Since launching Bloomwell Group in 2017, he