Jun 12, 2025

Kids First, Endless Impact

After six transformative years, David Singer reflects on his tenure as League Board Chair. From pandemic challenges to significant funding wins and sector growth, he emphasizes the critical importance of staying grounded in the League's first principle: ensuring all Colorado children have access to high-quality public education options, regardless of background.

By David Singer, League Board Chair

It’s been an incredibly quick and jam-packed six years. On a personal level, since joining the League’s board, I’ve gotten married, had two children, and opened a third school within our University Prep network. In that same window, we’ve collectively lived (and educated) through the COVID pandemic, equalized Mill Levy funding for CSI-authorized public charter schools, transformed our state’s funding formula with a deep bend towards equity, and grown our sector to more than 260 schools serving over 135,000 children.

Moreover, the League secured nearly $70 million in CSP funding to execute a five-year effort through the ‘Great Schools Colorado’ project to further increase the number of high-quality charter school seats across our state. This includes an explicit emphasis on driving academic outcomes for educationally disadvantaged students.

Needless to say, a lot has transpired in just over half a decade. With less than a month remaining in my board tenure, there is tremendous opportunity to pause and reflect.

As educators and leaders across our sector, we are pulled “into the weeds” every day. Whether that’s an explicit issue facing us in a classroom, a policy challenge with an authorizer, or a statewide dilemma tied to a legislative session, each of these moments can feel incredibly urgent and important. They’re all right in front of us, and they all matter. And, they often prevent us from catching our breath and reminding ourselves of what this work is all about: children. Children — and especially those from historically marginalized communities — thriving in every geography across our state.

That’s a promise adults across Colorado have never kept, and it’s the promise we’re ultimately fighting to bring to fruition through our movement in the public charter school sector.

As I roll off the Board and transition from my role as Board Chair, I would encourage all of us to revisit the first principle of our organization:

All Colorado children, regardless of zip code or background, deserve access to high-quality public school options. The League and charter sector efforts revolve around doing what is in the best interest of children and what will measurably improve students’ educational outcomes. This is the consistent benchmark that we check against for every strategy, project, tactic, or position.

It's hard to imagine reliving the roller-coaster that’s been the last six years (and that’s not just the parenting roller-coaster of having two children under four years old; that’s the roller-coaster of public education within the broader context of our larger society).

And yet, the roller-coaster will absolutely continue, likely with similar volatility in the next six years ahead. Absolute highs, deep low points, and loopy loops are all a part of the ride. The fundamental key to success through all of it is to stay grounded in our League mission, vision, and principles.

The “first principle” is first for a reason; it matters most. Kids winning is what matters most, and they win when they leave their public education with unlimited opportunity on the table. Their K–12 experience sets the stage for anything and everything, but today, they aren’t winning. Less than 30% of children from low-income households across Colorado are receiving any sort of post-secondary credential within six years of graduating. Meanwhile, more than 95% of tier 1, high-paying jobs require that piece of paper.

More fights lie ahead, more challenges are inevitable, and more crises are coming. As we work together across an incredibly diverse range of perspectives and lived experiences within the charter ecosystem, let’s all hold on to the League’s first principle.

Times change, roller coaster rides can and will be jarring (life is), but principles remain the constant. We have absolute control in our ability to maintain them. Let’s choose “what is in the best interest of children” every chance we get, and let’s do whatever it takes, together, to finally keep the promise of a high-quality education for every child who grows up in Colorado.