In partnership with the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Family Foundation, Bluum serves as a funding intermediary and local champion for supporting entrepreneurial education ventures.
Bluum provides partner schools with additional services and technical assistance. Our team can help elevate the business of running a school by reviewing financial infrastructure and identifying areas of strength and areas for improvement.
Bluum has become a go-to resource on education research and innovation. We aim to share the work of Idaho’s high performing schools and outstanding educators. Our hope is that it can become a national model for helping all children reach their fullest potential.
It’s been 25 years since Idaho’s first charter schools opened their doors, yet misunderstandings of this model for public education still exist. This morning, our CEO, Terry Ryan, had the opportunity to share the history and impact of Idaho’s public charter schools on students and families with both the Senate and House Education Committees.
A new multi-state report, “Choice Out West: Lessons and challenges from Idaho, Colorado and New Mexico,” finds that despite successful expansion and innovation efforts in Idaho’s charter school sector, our state’s rapid population growth is creating not only opportunities but complex challenges in providing quality public school choice seats for K-12 students.
Idaho is one of the nation’s fastest growing states. Many of our schools are overcrowded, and our student demographics are changing rapidly. Over the past decade, our state’s overall K-12 enrollment has grown by about 55,000 students, almost 20 percent (10,422 students) of which has been in the state’s public charter schools. With all this growth in student enrollment, public schools in Idaho—both traditional school districts and charter schools—have struggled to keep up with the need for new and expanded school facilities.
To help illuminate the scale of the facility financing inequities in Idaho, and most importantly to offer up solutions, especially for public charter schools, Bluum partnered with the Foundation for Excellence in Education (ExcelinEd) to generate this policy brief, Building for Success in Idaho.
We have the privilege of serving some of Idaho’s finest school leaders in helping them educate and support their thousands of families and students. In 2021, the real heroes in our orbit were our 30 plus partner schools and their teams.
This Charter School Grant workshop announces the CSP grant, explain how to apply, and to answer questions. Please see bluum.org/idaho-csp-grant to see if your school meets eligibility requirements.