Bluum As A Funding Intermediary
In the world of public education, innovative ideas often wither without sustainable funding. Bluum’s evolution from a modest, pass-through grantmaker to a sophisticated funding intermediary represents one of its most significant contributions to Idaho’s educational transformation. By creatively combining philanthropic resources, federal grants, and state support, Bluum has generated unprecedented leverage for charter school development across Idaho.
From direct grants to sustainable systems
When JKAF first began supporting charter schools in Idaho, the foundation’s approach was straightforward but limited in impact.
“Early on in our charter school work we gave any group that was interested in starting a charter school $250,000 with no guidance, little support. That didn’t really pan out,” said Roger Quarles, Executive Director of JKAF. “They just couldn’t get off the ground.”
This experience prompted a strategic pivot toward a more comprehensive approach, leading to Bluum’s formation and a focus on combining leadership development with sophisticated financing models.
“My one word to describe what has happened since we made that pivot would be ‘remarkable’,” Quarles said. “I don’t know what else to say, other than I’m just so impressed with what they’ve been able to do.”
“The key things we realized early on was we needed Terry, who was a real leader in the space, and we needed a guy like (CFO) Marc Carignan, who really understood finance,” Quarles said.
Leveraging federal Charter School Program grants
A centerpiece of Bluum’s funding strategy has been its success in securing and effectively administering federal Charter School Program (CSP) grants. Idaho became only the second state where a non-profit statewide entity received these grants. Since then, non-profits in several other states have been inspired to follow suit, and Bluum has provided many of these states support along the way.
In addition to securing the CSP grants, Bluum established model systems for administering them effectively. Royce Van Tassell, Executive Director of the Utah Association of Public Charter Schools, described how this expertise has been shared with his organization.
“We had consulted extensively with the Bluum application to make sure that we weren’t stepping on any landmines unnecessarily, and to make sure that again, we were doing something that was simultaneously going to be effective without creating unnecessary work or hazard,” Van Tassell said.
He said he particularly valued Bluum’s practical solutions to administrative challenges. “[Bluum] was incredibly helpful in their willingness to share both their expertise as well as make available some of the software solutions to collect and track all of the various artifacts necessary to demonstrate that the various costs and expenses were appropriately managed,” he said.
Creating affordable facilities solutions
Perhaps Bluum’s most innovative contribution has been working with partners to develop solutions to the perennial challenge of charter school facilities financing. By combining Program Related Investments (PRIs) from JKAF, a CSP credit enhancement program, a state-backed revolving loan fund, and a state moral obligation program, Bluum has helped to create a system that makes quality facilities financially viable for charter schools. This in a state with the lowest per pupil funding in the nation. (See the Theme Six section for more detail on Bluum’s facilities financing approach).
“We have a board member who likes to say, ‘if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together’,” Quarles said. “Terry’s awareness around our ability to provide PRI to Building Hope, our ability to provide funding for school fellows, the state commission’s willingness to participate and support charter schools, all coming together was the catalyst for the CSP money coming to Idaho.”
This combination of funding sources has allowed charter schools to grow without the impact on property taxes that traditional district facility financing requires. “Idaho has had a pretty good growth spurt over the last 10 years. we have been able to accommodate a big percentage of that growth in charter school seats at no cost to the local property taxpayer,” Quarles said.
Supporting the full growth cycle
Bluum’s financial model is particularly effective because it supports schools through their full growth cycle, from initial planning to sustainable operations. The funding mechanisms evolve as schools mature.
“When you have growth and the demand that we have… the cost of land increases, the cost of construction increases, and the cost of financing is increasing. It’s getting harder to put the deals together through capital stacks,” Quarles said. “That’s where we have an advantage, that we’ve got more people willing to put their resources behind the work to still make it manageable today.”
Bluum’s “patient capital” approach allows schools to develop at their own pace, while also ensuring accountability and sound financial management. For Quarles, the financial and academic health of Bluum-supported schools demonstrates the success of this approach.
“Academically, if you look at the performance of our network, it is substantially outpacing traditional schools and other schools of choice, even in the private school sector,” Quarles said. “Operationally from a leadership standpoint, the majority of the school founders are still leading their schools, and financially, they are all sound.”
Challenges and opportunities ahead
Despite Bluum’s impressive track record, leaders identified several challenges and opportunities for the funding intermediary role moving forward.
One key challenge is the sustainability of the momentum Bluum has generated as population continues to boom while land and construction costs continue to climb.
“We set out to eliminate a waiting list, and I believe the waiting list has gotten substantially larger since we started the ‘20 in 10 Initiative,” Quarles said. “It might have to be 40 in 20. I don’t know what it’s going to have to be.”
Through its evolution as a funding intermediary, Bluum has demonstrated that effective educational reform requires not just ideas and leadership, but sophisticated financial mechanisms that create sustainability.
“I’m kind of surprised that we’ve been able to keep up this pace over the last 10 years,” Quarles said. “The work is remarkable.”
