Expanding Beyond Idaho
While Bluum’s primary focus remains firmly rooted in Idaho, the organization has increasingly extended its expertise and influence to other states grappling with charter school development challenges.
Notably, Bluum staff have assisted other charter support organizations that have received federal CSP grants. There is a tremendous amount of paperwork to navigate and stringent requirements for reporting and financial accounting that can seem overwhelming to an organization confronting these obstacles for the first time.
Another, more unique outreach effort to another state has been Bluum’s extensive support of Montana’s efforts to establish its own charter school sector.
Trish Schreiber, who has been instrumental in leading Montana’s charter school initiative, described Bluum’s role as transformative in her state’s efforts to implement its newly passed charter school law which is still tied up in legal challenges.
Bluum’s involvement in helping Montana pass a charter law dates back to 2021. During that year’s legislative session, local charter advocates reached out to the neighboring states for advice. Terry Ryan traveled to Montana and testified as proponents for the law.
Bluum has shown that selective mentorship, strategic guidance, and technical support can help other states develop their own paths to charter school success.
Crisis management and legislative support
Bluum’s assistance proved particularly crucial when Montana’s charter law faced legal challenges following its passage. The state secured only a partial injunction, allowing preparation for charter implementation while prohibiting the issuance of charter contracts. This created an unusual opportunity for development.
“The charter commission could get formed and start preparing the state for chartering based on our law, but they couldn’t go as far as issuing a charter contract,” Schreiber said. This silver lining allowed Montana’s volunteer-driven commission to lay essential groundwork. Bluum assisted on these efforts.
Ryan and Carignan provided on-site expertise, meeting with Montana’s Office of Public Instruction to translate Idaho’s funding model into Montana’s context. Using real numbers, they developed detailed financial projections for different types of schools across various geographic settings.
“Bluum made some Excel spreadsheets about what different schools would look like, depending on their rurality or isolation, and then what kind of funding they would be getting from the state eventually,” Schreiber noted.
This work proved invaluable. About seven founding boards emerged, actively preparing to apply for charters once permitted by law. The public information sessions – which included Idaho charter school leaders spending a day in the Montana state capital – provided by Bluum helped educate Montanans about charter schools, a novel concept in a state that had never authorized charters.
Mentorship at multiple levels
Beyond immediate technical assistance, Bluum has provided personal mentorship that extends Schreiber’s own professional development. Ryan helped connect her to national networks, including the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools’ State Leadership Council meetings.
“The leadership council is the CEOs of the various charter support organizations across the country, and Terry is part of that,” Schreiber said. “Terry picked up the phone and talked to the head of NAPCS and said, ‘You guys need to let Trish come to these meetings, because she’s got to keep her eye on the ball.’”
This access has proven transformative for Montana’s inexperienced charter leadership. “There’s no information here, and a lot of people don’t even know what a charter school is,” Schreiber said.
State-level system-building
Perhaps most significantly, Bluum has advocated for Montana to develop its own charter support organization (CSO) rather than simply duplicating Idaho’s model.
“One of the first things that we realized was that Montana needs to start its own Bluum… and that’s something that we still haven’t been able to get going,” Schreiber said. “But I hope when we eventually get a CSO going here, that it will look a lot like Bluum.”
Montana, however, lacks a major funding partner like JKAF, which could make the challenge steeper. But both Ryan and Jamie Jo Scott of the Albertson Foundation have offered to bring Montana’s newly hired executive director to Idaho for intensive training, Schreiber said.
The challenge of scalability
Schreiber’s observation about what Bluum might improve captured the fundamental tension the organization faces: Demand for its model exceeds its capacity – and desire – to replicate it.
“I wish they were willing to come into Montana and start a Bluum here, or in Wyoming, where they have a new charter law too,” Schreiber said. “It would be great if they could just replicate.”
The Montana experience demonstrates how Bluum’s decade of expertise can catalyze charter development in states starting from scratch. While direct replication may not be feasible, Bluum has shown that selective mentorship, strategic guidance, and technical support can help other states develop their own paths to charter school success.
As Schreiber noted about Idaho’s charter sector under Bluum’s guidance: “They have such good results from their schools. They’re a model to everyone.”
