Bluum, A Mission-Driven Organization, Has Had Significant Impact On Idaho Public Education
When JKAF launched its ambitious “20 in 10” initiative in 2013, few could have predicted the transformation in Idaho’s educational landscape that would follow. The initiative, which evolved into Bluum in 2015, set out with what seemed at the time like an audacious goal: create 20,000 new, high-quality charter school seats within a decade. Ten years later, Bluum has not only met but exceeded that goal.
“Ten years in, between schools that are operating and schools in the hopper, we’re up to around 40 schools, and we’re close to 20,000 students in those schools,” Quarles said. “So we’ve exceeded the goal, though we have created a lot of new demand as well. There are still many students on waiting lists for these schools.”
“The creation of so many new schools and seats has served the state well,” said Debbie Critchfield, Idaho’s Superintendent of Public Instruction.
“Idaho has one of the healthiest charter sectors in the country, and I think that is owing to Bluum and JKAF.”
“One of the core values of education in our state has been around parents making choices” Critchfield said. “The growth and expansion of charter options around the state really matches that value of parents finding the right educational delivery and right educational setting for their child.” Bluum’s mission-driven approach has produced strong results across the state, ranging from the Treasure Valley to remote rural communities. Bluum has stewarded over $100 million in investments in Idaho education, including nearly $60 million in grants from JKAF and more than $32 million in federal Charter School Program grant funding. (see Graph 1)
A healthy charter ecosystem “Idaho has one of the healthiest charter sectors in the country, and I think that is owing to Bluum and JKAF,” said Marcia Aaron, a Bluum board member and partner for the Charter School Growth Fund (CSGF), which partners with Bluum on various initiatives.
“They’re only supporting schools that they think can deliver really high outcomes for kids. They make sure that when those groups are launching new schools, that they make sense not only academically, but financially.”
Bluum’s systematic approach to school development has been a key differentiator. “We have a very rigorous process for trying to identify school leaders and business plans that will be successful,” said Toby Prehn, a board member at both Bluum and JKAF. “It’s exactly what we do in my business life.”
Beyond brick and mortar, Bluum has helped reshape the conversation around educational choice in Idaho. When charter schools first emerged in the state, the relationship with traditional districts was often adversarial. Today, that’s changed, at least incrementally.
“One of the things that Bluum has done well, and that has been evolving over time, is the relationship between public charter schools and traditional schools,” Critchfield said. “In Bluum’s first couple of years, it was highly adversarial and very competitive. And now they’re coexisting in a friendlier way.”
Critchfield said she believed this evolution stemmed from Bluum’s emphasis on quality and standards. “They’ve established themselves as having a reputation for promoting quality choices,” she said. “Yes, choice is the thing that we’re all looking for, but built into that, they’ve established themselves as having a reputation for quality.”
Bluum has done a really good job of encouraging homegrown folks, rather than chasing a lot of out-of-state operators to come to Idaho.
This focus on quality is coupled with Bluum’s preference for homegrown talent and models rather than importing established networks from elsewhere. “Bluum has done a really good job of encouraging homegrown folks, rather than chasing a lot of out-of-state operators to come to Idaho,” Aaron said. This approach has allowed for the development of innovative models specifically designed to meet Idaho’s unique needs.
Bluum-supported schools have consistently outperformed state averages on standardized tests. “If you look at the NAEP (the National Assessment of Educational Progress) scores, you see the progress that Idaho has made,” said Aaron. “I think that a good part of that is because we have such a strong, diverse group of charter schools that are really trying to drive high-quality outcomes.”
As Bluum celebrates its 10th anniversary and looks toward the future, challenges remain, ranging from the rising cost of building and financing schools to meeting ongoing demand for great schools. Talent — leadership and teaching — is also a perennial pain point for Idaho’s growing charter school sector especially in more rural and remote communities. Yet, Bluum’s track record, aligned with its partner schools, suggests it will continue finding innovative solutions to create high-quality charter school seats for Idaho’s children. From Bonners Ferry to the Treasure Valley to Idaho Falls, Bluum’s mission-driven approach has fundamentally reshaped the state’s educational landscape, one quality school at a time (see Graph 2 below).
Keeping the quality high over time will be a challenge Bluum will face in the coming years, said Roger Quarles, JKAF’s executive director.
“One key question for me is, what are the ongoing supports to prevent us from having 40 mediocre schools in the next 10 years?” he said. “That isn’t what we set Bluum up to do, so it’s what does Bluum 2.0 look like, or even Bluum 3.0?”
Alan Reed, chair of the Idaho Public Charter School Commission and a commissioner for 18 years, suggested Bluum could broaden its focus beyond the high-performing schools it helped create to help struggling charter schools improve. “It would be nice if Bluum could help lower schools come up to the point to where their own schools are,” he said.
