Michael Kaufman

Do you feel good about what we're set to work on?

Are we trying to solve too much? I noticed this morning that some of the groups seem to have a more narrow focus.

I agree, I think we had a much broader focus. And we didn't necessarily have consensus. Is our scope too broad?

The last group is wildly at a different place because they've met much more. They came here to make a deal. This group is really having its first conversation. We are in the narrowing process and I think we're in the right place.

I think we've narrowed it down to four major areas. I think we need to get that down to one or two.

Other thoughts?

I am excited about it. I think it's a matter of time, energy, and money.

Is it possible that what you want to do should be shared?

I think I have an idea for what might work for my area. I like the Western Grocer's model and what they did to have leverage together. And that's an important model for charter schools. Even if it's a lose group like a co-op.

Is there a particular high leverage point for banding together? In their world it's purchasing and distribution, what would it be for charter schools?

I think it would be things like policy and marketing, back-office, and professional development. One thing we did not mention yesterday but I think needs to be addressed is BTSA (Beginning Teacher Support Assistance). It could be part of the teacher network.

Facilities is hard to tackle here because it's so localized.

Other comments?

This is how I think the structure of the day will work. We will break into smaller teams and work in parallel on different subjects. Then we will do a shift and share like yesterday to review our work. Possibly it'd be good to hear from the Child Care group. On this sheet I've layed out various options for the break out groups, take a sheet and pass it on. It might be valuable to have a group focus on what the CCSA (California Charter Schools Association) could do. A group could work on the message coming out of this meeting. That takes the policy and marketing to a very granular level. How do we communicate to those who weren't here. Another thing to think about is what's the right business model? What's a good structure for collaboration? What are the actions to make it happen? A group could also work on synthesizing the vision.

What's the real opportunity in back-office and teacher network? They're more short-term focused. Those were the options that I came up with.

Just one thought. The group on policy and marketing didn't have people with expertise in those groups. I think today we need to make sure we have the right people in that group.

Are we looking now to identify one thing to focus on?

I think all of these things are viable things to do.

I think if we can pair it down, there's a better shot that we will accomplish something. We have to prioritize. BTSA intrigued me and that feels like something we could do. Maybe we need a charter BTSA. And back-office intrigues me too. BTSA is something we don't have access too unlike back-office and we need to to something soon.

What else would you not to do from this list?

I don't know if I would concentrate of facilities because it has so much to do with local politics. It's very complicated, it almost has to be solved legally.

I would like to work on the back-office a bit. The association is trying to figure this out.

I was struck to hear from the charter schools people about the amount of money they're spending and the services they're getting from it.

Is the CCSA a viable focus too?

I think working on recommendations is a good thing.

BTSA falls under the teacher network.

Is our goal to come out with some issues for charter schools to work on or is it to come out with a better sense of a model for collaboration between charter schools and community development?

As the sponsor, we were thinking it could be many things. But specifically, it's about what the charter schools want it to be. Our vision was to come away with real tangible things: next steps, and how do we make this happen. My fear is losing momentum from this session. We would like to see us come away with knowing how do we make this happen and who's going to be involved.

That reminds me, does it make sense to possibly have a group to work on experiments or pilots?

I would hope that some pilots would come out of each subject.

I would like to say something about marketing. It's really about how we connect with parents and students. A big issue is that kids that could come to a charter schools don't even know about it. This is about local marketing.

You mean brand exposure?

Yes. At the end of the day, every child and parent should know what their options are.

Can you talk about marketing and brand in a leverage sense?

It's the" motor city" analogy. Why are all the car dealerships in the same place? Location economics explains why they are all together. Why aren't all the San Francisco charter schools marketing collectively?

Is there an opportunity for jointly marketing charter schools to the public?

That's being done a little in Minnesota.

Did you talk about policy yesterday? Education is a fundamentally irrational world.

Is there anything to come up with for the CCSA? I'm not sure.

How can we support them to do things differently?

I think the San Diego charter schools getting together to work on facilities was a great thing. The CCSA facilitated that whole process.

There's a connection between state level policy and grass roots advocacy. Here's a specific example: two years ago CTA hired three people to get into to charter schools and try and unionize them.

We need to form a unified voice. How do we go from collaborating locally to across the state?

That's good. How do you turn local grass roots marketing into something that affects state level policy?

That should be one of the last things you do I think. I am comfortable with the three groups we've listed to start with.

Go to the group that you have the primary interest in and know that you're only 10 feet away from others. Just go grab the people you need if you want to hear their points of view.

Scribing