From:
Dear Friends,
As Executive Director of the Tennessee Charter Schools Association
(TCSA) since 2007, I have had the honor to work side-by-side with many
of you to strengthen Tennes

see’s
charter school environment. However, while I am excited about what the
future holds for Tennessee students, the time has come for me to pass
the baton to new leadership.
It is gratifying to look back over the past six-plus years and see just
how far we’ve come together in our campaign to increase Tennesseans’
access to high-quality public charter schools.
When I came to Tennessee in 2007, there were only 12 charter schools,
and the state had one of the most restrictive charter laws in the
nation. At that time, charter schools could only be introduced in
school districts where academic failure was present, and a sunset clause
posed a threat to the program’s future. By building partnerships with
legislators, community leaders, and educators, in 2009 we were able to
expand access to charter schools to all free-and-reduced lunch
students.
We continued to fight for all students to gain access to quality public
charter schools, and in 2011, we successfully worked with legislative
leaders to pass legislation that opened charter schools to
students of all academic and economic backgrounds, and
removed the cap which had previously restricted the number of charter schools.
In addition to this progress, I am proud of the additional ways TCSA has
advocated for stronger quality options and opportunities for students
across the state in my tenure. We worked with education stakeholders
from across the state to help Tennessee win the first Race to the Top
funds, which had a significant impact on the expansion of charter
schools in Memphis and Nashville. We lobbied for high academic
accountability, worked to ensure fair and equitable funding, and
successfully defended charter schools against dozens of proposed pieces
of harmful legislation.

Along
the way we managed to make many improvements to our law, and even
secured nearly a dozen opinions from the Attorney General, all of which
were favorable.
Due to these legislative and legal victories paired with the incredibly
hard work charter school leaders and teachers are doing across the
state, this month the Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO)
at Stanford University published a study highlighting
Tennessee’s charter schools as some of the strongest performers in the country.
Thanks to this progress of our high-quality movement, this fall more
than 16,500 students across the state will take their seats in more than
70 excellent charter schools.
Moving forward, I am excited about the collaboration between TCSA and
the Tennessee Charter School Incubator to create the new Tennessee
Charter School Center. During the strategic planning process, I will be
serving as an advisor to the new Center as we work to create an even
stronger voice for excellent educational opportunities in Tennessee. As
the plan is established, TCSA will continue to serve as a resource to
the parents, schools, and policymakers of Tennessee. TCSA has always had
a strong working relationship with the Tennessee Charter School
Incubator, and with each organization bringing their core initiatives
under the umbrella of the new Center I am more encouraged than ever abou

t the bright future of charter schools as Tennessee’s most impactful public education reform.
Through
The Voice,
our dynamic grassroots advocacy program, you and other supporters will
continue to have a larger, louder forum to bring continued change and
progress to public education. In addition, I am proud to have been your
partner to build the Tennessee Charter Schools Association, and I look
forward to the continued growth of excellent educational options in our
state. It has been inspiring to work with so many leaders dedicated to
making a difference for Tennessee families, and I know that the movement
will continue to be in good hands.
Warmest,
Matt Throckmorton
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