Earned Autonomy for Idaho Charter Schools

For more than a decade, Idaho has engaged in recurring conversations about moving its school funding system away from a command-and-control structure—driven primarily by the state’s career ladder—toward a system that funds students.

Fast forward to 2026, and Idaho has significantly increased its investment in public education. According to Governor Brad Little’s office, spending on K–12 education has increased by 80 percent since he took office in 2019, through fiscal year 2025. Yet over that same period, statewide student achievement in mathematics and English language arts—at both the fourth- and eighth-grade levels—has remained largely flat.

We have doubled down on a static system, and not surprisingly, the results have not changed. At Bluum, we believe that flexibility in spending is a precondition for improving student learning. Local administrators and teachers are closest to students, understand their needs best, and should be empowered to direct resources accordingly. That flexibility must be matched with accountability for student outcomes. In short: trust but verify results.

Idaho’s growing and relatively high-performing public charter school sector is well-positioned to demonstrate the impact of granting school leaders greater freedom to allocate resources in ways that successful educators believe will most effectively improve student achievement. We refer to this concept as earned autonomy. How this approach can work in practice is the reason Bluum partnered with our friends at ExcelinEd to produce this report. We are deeply grateful to school finance expert Matthew Joseph and the ExcelinEd team for their work in developing this research for Idaho.

It is past time to demonstrate how operational freedom for school leaders can translate into stronger school and student outcomes. Idaho’s highest-performing public charter schools are uniquely positioned to show that real dollars can be spent flexibly, with an emphasis on results rather than on predetermined and inflexible programs or activities. Now is the time to be bold—and our public charter schools are designed to lead Idaho in innovation.