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BLUUM

Bluum

Blog

Bluum is a nonprofit organization helping Idaho become a national model for how to maximize learning outcomes for children and families.

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Idaho Education by the Numbers: 2024 Edition

Data in education matters. It can help state leaders make decisions as to what works and what doesn’t in public policy. It can help district and charter network leaders see what’s working in their schools and what might need improvement or replacement. Principals deserve information that helps support students, families, and educators while making informed decisions about how to best utilize resources. Finally, data can help parents and taxpayers better understand what’s happening in their schools and with their children.

Partners for Student Success: Nonprofits Deliver Wins for Federal Charter School Program

One of the most complicated, yet rewarding, projects we run in Idaho is our state’s federal Charter School Program (CSP) grant. From 2018 to 2023, Bluum was responsible for Idaho’s $22 million Communities of Excellence CSP grant, which we described as “a statewide consortium led by Bluum designed to foster the development, expansion, and replication of high-quality charter schools in Idaho.”

Idaho School Districts Utilize Federal Charter School Program Grants to Serve Students

West Ada, Idaho’s largest public school district with 40,000 students, rarely authorizes charter schools. They recently made an exception for Pathways in Education (PIE), an alternative high school opening next month in Meridian. Pathways has run a successful school in nearby Nampa School District for the last eight years. PIE, West Ada’s third district-authorized charter school recently received a $529,000 grant from Bluum, part of the nonprofit’s federally funded Building on Success charter school program, serves students facing a range of challenges that makes dropping out a likely outcome. The funding for the Bluum program comes from the U.S. Department of Education Charter School Program. Last year, Bluum received a $24.9 million CSP grant. That follows on the $22.5 million grant it received in 2018 and successfully administered over five years.

Becoming a Marine: Learning Experience for Educators

My colleague, Ashley Cotton, and I recently had the privilege of attending a weeklong educator’s workshop hosted by the Marine Corps at the Recruit Depot in San Diego. The workshop was an exclusive opportunity for over 50 selected leaders, coaches, directors, administrators, and educators from across the country to experience firsthand the transformative journey of young civilians into Marines.Throughout the workshop, we received the most current information about Marine Corps training practices, explored different military occupational specialties (MOS), discussed service options, practiced a military lifestyle, and learned about the different educational opportunities available to Marines.

Seeking Balance: Authorizers Work to Adapt to Idaho’s New Public Charter School Law

As the founder and leader of the high-performing Compass Public Charter School in Meridian, Kelly Trudeau sees a lot to like in Idaho’s newly updated public charter school law. In particular, Trudeau is fond of a provision that provides established successful schools like hers with a 12-year charter renewal if Compass demonstrates strong academic performance and solid financial and operational systems. Schools performing at a less optimal level can get a renewal term of six years.“We are performing well as a school and we don’t have any financial issues,” Trudeau said of her 19-year-old K-12 school. “If that’s the case, why should we not be granted some kind of meaningful benefit?”

Advancing Fairness in Special Education through Public Charter School Collaboration

Last week, the Center for Learner Equity (CLE) convened national thought leaders in special education to address a critical question: “Why does our public education system accept the failure of students with disabilities?” Recent Civil Rights Data shared at the event revealed a stark reality: while around 85% of special education students are capable of meeting grade-level proficiency standards, only 30% of educators believe this to be true.The event, “Move Together: A Call to Action to the Charter Ecosystem for Students with Disabilities,” sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, brought together over 150 stakeholders from various sectors including authorizers, policymakers, school leaders, parents, students, and nonprofit organizations.

The Sky Hasn’t Fallen: Alternative Teacher Certification in Idaho Public Charter Schools

Idaho has a thriving charter school sector with over 30,000 students enrolled in one of the state’s 70+ schools. It features some of the highest-performing schools in the state, but until recently charters had little choice but to hire teachers certified through traditional schools of education. Some teachers obtained interim certificates through Teach for America or the American Board of Certification for Teacher Excellence (ABCTE) that allowed them to teach for three years. But charters had no authority to design their own teacher preparation pathways, or to hire people with a wealth of life and professional experience but no teaching degree. While Idaho created a more streamlined, low-cost, online certification program through the College of Southern Idaho in 2018, aimed primarily at certifying and retaining rural educators, charter advocates say it did not provide a more customized approach that many charter schools desire or require.