Good day, CharterFolk.
Today we are pleased to present a Contributor Column from Noah Devine, the Executive Director of the Missouri Charter Public Schools Association.
We provide a bio for Noah below.
Noah Devine is the Executive Director of the Missouri Charter Public Schools Association. Devine has dedicated his career to championing educational excellence and school choice, utilizing his expertise in policy, grant-making, and effective systems to drive positive change. His diverse experience includes serving as a special education teacher, a college teaching assistant, a school district staff member, and positions within two state education agencies. Most recently, Devine served as the Deputy Director for the Kansas City Action Fund, where he played a crucial role in researching, evaluating, and advocating for actionable policy solutions to enhance educational outcomes for students in Kansas City.
Devine’s academic accomplishments have equipped him with a deep understanding of educational systems and effective strategies for driving student success. He holds master’s degrees from both the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the University of Missouri, and a certificate in education finance from Georgetown University. Born and raised in Columbia, Missouri, Devine experienced the benefits of public school choice firsthand when his parents identified the best educational options for him outside his traditional neighborhood school. This personal experience has shaped his perspectives and fuels his commitment to providing all students with access to high-quality, public education. Currently residing in Kansas City, Missouri, Devine, and his wife, Kate, are proud parents to two young children and their dog.
Let’s get straight to his column.
Putting the MO in Missouri’s Charter School Movement
Earlier this fall, I was pleased to read Brandon Brown’s Contributor Column about the astounding progress charter schools have made in Indianapolis. It’s hard to believe that Brandon and I were fellow TFA Corps Members in St. Louis almost 20 years ago. It seems like yesterday I enjoyed having the privilege of celebrating graduations with my students from Carnahan High School of the Future.
Fast forward a couple decades and I find myself leading the Missouri Charter Public Schools Association where I have the privilege of celebrating the accomplishments of an incredible sector of charter school educators.
Six weeks ago we had our annual conference in Columbia.
Business Director – Brookside Charter School
The gathering occurred at a moment of great validation for Missouri’s charter schools. That same week of our conference, new research from the Progressive Policy Institute showed that the charter schools of St. Louis and Kansas City are at the top of the list of city sectors that are having significant impact reducing achievement gaps and raising all boats.
For those of us who have been watching Missouri’s charter schools more closely, this latest validation comes as no surprise. Indeed, CREDO’s latest study about charter school performance nationally showed that Missouri’s charter schools rank among the top five in the country in terms of generating additional days of learning in reading and math relative to nearby district schools serving similar students.
Closer to home, the Show Me Institute has been beating the drum about academic growth in Missouri charter schools outpacing what is happening in district schools.
Just this past week, the state released even more new data confirming the encouraging trend.
It’s these kinds of results that are putting new octane in the tank of Missouri’s charter schools.
And parents and the general public are taking notice.
Last year, St. Louis University released a poll showing that 62% of voters, including more than half of Democratic voters, believe charter schools should be able to expand out of St. Louis and Kansas City and operate in all areas of the state.
Strong academic results and strong demand from parents translate into even greater support for charter schools coming from Missouri policy makers. The big new wave of support started in the summer of 2022 when Governor Mike Parson signed into law HB 1552 …
… providing long-sought funding equity for Missouri’s charter schools.
It equated to charter schools receiving literally multiple thousands of dollars per student per year.
But that was only the beginning.
In 2024, legislators followed upon the funding equity win by allowing charter schools to expand into Boone County, the first time that charter schools have been permitted to grow outside St. Louis and Kansas City.
Legislators also provided charter schools $2M in facilities funding, the first time such an allocation of state resources for charter school facilities has been approved.
These policy wins in the Missouri legislature have been accompanied by over $35 in new federal funding coming to the Opportunity Trust to expand high quality charter schools.
The Trust’s latest round of grants were announced this spring.
By the fall, confirmation came from the state board: additional charter school options will be opening in St Louis next year.
The news broke just as the charter schools of St. Louis announced that they had come together to create a new common application system that will make it easier for even more students and families to gain access to the improved educational opportunities being provided by the city’s charter schools.
It puts St. Louis’s charter schools in a position to make an even greater contribution as traditional public schools encounter a moment of great leadership challenge …
… and grapple with vexing fiscal problems.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the state, for the first time in history, Kansas City Public Schools has committed to provide facilities funding to charter schools in a local bond, meaning that $50M in facilities enhancements will come to KC charter schools should the bond measure pass this spring.
Across my nearly two decades of work in public education, charter schools and broader reform efforts, I have seen many encouraging developments occur that have increased Missouri students’ access to improved educational opportunity, but never have I seen of moment of opportunity comparable to what is emerging right now.
It’s a testament to the contributions being made by an amazing community of MissouriFolk:
Be it our most senior leaders like Kelly Garrett, who started out as a TFA corps in 1992 and is now wrapping up 13 years of distinguished service as CEO of KIPP St. Louis;
Or be it our newest leaders like Kimberly Neal-Brannum who, after decades of helping great new charter schools open elsewhere in the country …
… is coming back to her hometown of St. Louis to open a great new school right where she grew up.
Or be it the countless example of less visible folk making their heroic quiet contributions, like the association’s own Betty Morff who has spent over a decade making sure member schools have the support they need on compliance matters so that they can stay even more focused on the learning needs of kids.
The very heart of Missouri’s charter school movement is, and always has been, the extraordinary Folk who are connected to them.
They are the people who are putting the MO in Missouri’s charter school movement.
And mark my words, CharterFolk. You ain’t seen nothing yet.