TGIF, CharterFolk.
I hope you are all headed into a great weekend.
Amid a well-deserved chance to catch your breath, I hope you’re able to find a few minutes for this CharterFolk Chat with Chris Barbic, Partner at The City Fund and one of our four new inductees into the Charter School Hall of Fame.
Talk about a fun conversation.
You can access the discussion in video format on YouTube.
An audio version and full transcript is also available on our website.
All past CharterFolk chats are found here.
During our time together Chris and I cover:
- His first reactions to learning he had been selected for the Hall of Fame
- How this selection has affected his thinking about his 30+ years of work in education
- His thoughts on the big chapters of his career – from founding YES Prep, to serving as Superintendent of the ASD in Tennessee, to becoming a partner at City Fund – and why those early years with kids in classrooms at YES Prep might have had the deepest impact on him
- Lessons learned about sustaining the work, especially after his health challenges while working at an unsustainable pace at the ASD
- His comments at the National Alliance Conference about the charter school movement “getting its swagger back,” and what he sees as the difference between swagger and hubris
- Why he believes Tennessee is making faster progress today than it was a decade ago
- Insights about advocacy from his time serving on the boards of the Tennessee Charter School Center and the Texas Public Charter Schools Association, and why these roles have been among his most rewarding experiences in recent years
- What he envisions for his own future and for the future of the charter school movement.
Trust me, this is one you won’t want to miss, CharterFolk!
I had a blast recording it, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy the conversation as much as I did.
Thanks again, Chris, for taking the time to share your insights with us.
And once again:
Congratulations!