It's here! Our very own podcast...
"Charter School Insider: Lessons from the Nation's Top Charter School Operators"
Since 2006, BuyQ’s mission has been helping charter schools reduce their operating costs to free up resources that inspire innovation and lasting financial stability.
While operational excellence is not the reason most school founders get into this work, many quickly realize the educational outcomes they are passionate about rely heavily on their organization’s ability to operate from a position of strength. The Center for Education Reform published a report sharing that 66% of charter school closures are due to “money issues” and “mismanagement”.
(42% and 24% respectively).
Given the continued year over year enrollment growth and demand for charter schools, mitigating these types of operational closures is paramount for the families who choose to enroll their scholar in a local charter school. With that end in mind, we started this show.
As an organization that works with 4,000+ schools across all 45 states with charter laws (+DC), there is an opportunity to magnify the lessons and best practices that we hear from successful school operators. Hopefully, by sharing these lessons, the entire charter community can benefit.
So what can you expect as a listener?
#1 Learning from Current Leaders
Where does a CEO, COO, CFO, or new school founder go for their professional development?
Generally… a fellow leader that’s operating a larger school (or been operating longer), has faced similar issues, or can relate. The Charter School Insider podcast will pull back the curtain on these types of peer to peer conversations in an effort to help leaders all across the country learn from one another.
#2 Content that Addresses Specific Operational Challenges
Let’s face it… there are plenty of podcasts about pedagogy, academic theory, instructional models, etc. But what about the not-so-glamorous side of running a successful school?
- Teacher recruitment and compensation challenges
- The rising cost of health insurance and how that impacts budget planning
- Opening a new campus and the operational planning entailed
- Developing a purchasing and procurement strategy
- Managing day to day spending while also tracking annual financial goals
- Getting your board “on board” with various projects and initiatives
- Leadership transitions when a founder leaves a school or steps down
There’s a much longer list, but hopefully some of these examples got you thinking “I’d love to know how other schools are tackling this challenge!”.
#3 Tactics > Philosophy
Our hope is that with each episode you will walk away not just learning “why” something is important but rather “how” you can practically address the topic in your own context.
Have you ever heard a student ask… “So how am I going to use this in the real world?” We will do our best to ensure you never have to ask this question!
Conclusion
If your curiosity is piqued we hope you will tune in on your way to work, at the gym, picking up groceries, or whenever it is you listen to podcasts. And if you are reading this and you think you or a leader at your school would be a good guest for the show, we’d love to hear from you! Simply email us at: podcast@buyq.org
Daniel Casselli
