Weekend greetings, CharterFolk.
It’s good to be back in the saddle.
It’s the time of year that Amy and I get away for our annual vacation now that we’re empty nesters. It doubles as an anniversary celebration.
A couple years ago, we celebrated our 25th walking the Camino de Santiago, a journey that consisted of more than a million steps.
This year, though the hat remains the same …
… the milestones passed were a little less … pedestrian.
Halfway through our tour of Utah’s national and state parks, my minivan turned 300,000 miles.
For years, our kids have been begging me to get rid of what they consider to be a source of great family embarrassment.
This year, with Capitol Reef National Park as backdrop, I sent them my portrait of defiance.
Only 700,000 more to go.
Aunt Que
It was while we were in Zion that word came that my Aunt Kay had passed away.
So we folded up the tent for a few days and assembled with family and friends in Pittsburgh.
Aunt Kay always found a way to stay connected to my various endeavors going all the way back to my teaching days. One of her lifelong interests was investing. I often had my fifth graders make virtual stock portfolios. I found it a fun way to teach fractions and decimals. One year, students sent her letters seeking advice on stock picks.
They all being native Spanish speakers, and without me having spelled out her name on the blackboard, how do you think they addressed her?
Yup.
“Dear Aunt Que.”
I remember her laughter ringing out that night when I called to tell her.
A few weeks later, her reply to the class arrived. She had signed it:
“Love, Aunt Que.”
Aunt Kay was one of the first contributors to CharterFolk, offering a $5,000 match for anyone who would contribute paid subscriptions. Within a few weeks, a few other donors joined her, leading to hundreds of people signing up to meet the match.
And so CharterFolk got off the ground.
A few days after the funeral, my cousin Carol sent me a picture …
… and a note saying the CharterFolk mug and posts were a part of her morning ritual all the way to the very end.
Infused with a last “Love, Aunt Que,” on we go.
Many Thanks
I return wanting to want to extend thanks to many of you.
I start with Royce Van Tassell …
… CEO of the Utah Charter Schools Association, who gave great recommendations about parks …
… and charter schools …
… to visit in Utah, including his suggestion that we wrap things up in Park City where our anniversary date would coincide with the apex of Aspen color, another suggestion that turned out to be …
… perfectly spot on.
About 20 minutes on from where that picture was taken, we came across a moose and her two calves taking up the path.
So we turned around and headed back, though not before I snuck one quick selfie.
So thanks again, Royce. Your suggested itinerary is emblematic of the fact that much of the best advice I get these days comes from CharterFolk.
Special thanks also to all the Contributors who kept great content going out during my break:
Matt Tyson laying bare the stakes for school choice in Atlanta.
Sarah Meskin describing how Bluum has helped Idaho’s charter schools make such stunning progress in recent years.
And Aida Rodriguez highlighting how parents’ use of social media can be an advocacy game-changer.
Thanks also to Larson for publishing two great CharterFolk X columns about TennesseeFolk making a huge difference, including Ahmed White …
… who has pushed through absolutely ridiculous opposition to open the Rock Academy in Nashville, Tennessee, and Elaine Swafford …
… our first person to have been recognized twice as CharterFolk X, who was recently inducted into the National Charter School Hall of Fame.
Finally, I will share that over the past few weeks CharterFolk has received some important new philanthropic support which will help us sustain and expand the work we are doing here.
So to all who have contributed new energy to CharterFolk in my absence, I say thank you.
I return with even more spring in my step.
Green Dot at 25
In easing back into CharterFolk work, I won’t attempt a full column in addition to what I present above. But I do want to set the stage for next weekend’s post.
Venturing through Utah’s various landscapes, I’ve been thinking about the inevitabilities that flow from geography.
Just as the Colorado River shaped the Southwest, advocacy geography is shaping the national charter school movement.
Some places are rife with opposition.
Others aren’t.
Some have advocacy geographies like Texas where nearly all decision-making affecting charter schools happens at a state level.
Other states have advocacy geographies like California where decisions are made at both a state and local level, requiring whole other levels of advocacy capacity.
We could wish that it weren’t this way. But we’ve got to deal with the landscapes that confront us.
One of the last things I did before heading out on break was to attend Green Dot’s 25th anniversary celebration in Los Angeles.
It was a great event, with students, alumni, staff, and funders convening …
… to celebrate the accomplishments of one of our hallmark organizations.
As ever, Cristina De Jesus’s presence filled the stadium.
Not just one for Los Angeles, but for the entire state.
In addition to serving as CEO of Green Dot, Cristina serves as the Chair of the California Charter Schools Association.
Dues Not Yet
With so many LosAngelesFolk in attendance, it was natural that talk in between the festivities would gravitate to advocacy matters. Much of it focused on whether charter schools across the state will pay increased membership dues to the association to supplement local advocacy capacity.
Unfortunately, CCSA is burdened by the legacy of a prior CEO not drawing attention to the advocacy geography that California’s charter schools operate within, and the need to resource advocacy accordingly.
For nearly a decade, I didn’t raise membership dues once.
And that was on top of the association having not raised them for the five years before I got there.
Back in the early 2000’s, the California and the Massachusetts associations had similar dues levels, but Massachusetts created a dues structure that rose automatically with the level of funding schools receive.
Meanwhile, California’s didn’t increase its original dues levels until 2017-18.
Today, nearly a quarter century later, Massachusetts has a dues level that is three and a half times higher per pupil than California’s. And from an advocacy landscape perspective, Massachusetts is a lot like Texas where nearly all decisions happen at a state level, meaning their association doesn’t have to have nearly the same regional presence that California’s charter schools need.
But as Tim Nicolette, the CEO of the Massachusetts association, so effectively wrote two years ago …
.. stable, sufficient resources for advocacy have been indispensable in helping the Massachusetts movement navigate an immensely challenging landscape.
So, yes, CharterFolk, structure, governance, staffing, agenda – all the things that people were talking about in between the festivities at BMO Stadium – they all really matter.
No doubt.
Especially in a place like California where the movement has grown to serve over 700,000 students, with high concentrations of schools in many parts of the state.
But the increase in dues the association is proposing?
In my opinion, it isn’t nearly large enough.
Dues would still be less than half of what we see in Massachusetts, a level not even close yet to what is needed given the advocacy landscape in California.
Learning from Mistakes
The last piece we published before I started my break was from Mike Huguelet, CEO of Iowa’s new charter school association.
In addition to being one of the most heartfelt columns ever offered here at CharterFolk, Mike’s piece shows how the national movement is learning from its own mistakes.
Rather than pegging dues to a static per pupil amount like we did in California, he’s explained to his school leaders why they need to embrace the Massachusetts model. So as they grow they will be able to have the advocacy they need without being completely dependent upon philanthropy.
Thus far, every school leader in Iowa has agreed.
Meaning that Iowa – brand new Iowa – nascent Iowa aspiring toward having a couple thousand kids in charter schools – with its association having just one employee – has a per pupil dues level today that is almost 50% higher than California’s.
CharterFolk readers know I write about this topic all the time – the need to increase membership dues to provide our advocacy organizations the resources they need to succeed, so that the broader movement can succeed. I’ve called it the 25X25X25 agenda, having 25 state associations receiving $25 in membership dues per pupil by 2025.
Hallmark organizations like Green Dot are achieving 25 this year, but many of our state associations, California’s included, aren’t achieving $25.
At least not yet.
A couple years back I wrote a column trying to sum it all up …
… but for a variety of reasons, I think I could have done it better.
Meanwhile, the advocacy landscape has continued to evolve.
So, I’ll venture a revisit.
Hope to see you here.