There is a particular kind of courage required to believe in something before there is evidence that it will work.
I have spoken in the past about the importance of believing that the students in front of us—and the circumstances in which we find them—do not represent the end of their story. In education, we have the privilege of being present when the trajectory of a life begins to change. But if we are going to help students write a different story for themselves, we first have to believe that a different story is possible.
That idea has become foundational to our work at The Heron Institute.
We believe in what is possible for students, especially when it is not immediately obvious. We serve students whose educational journeys have not always followed a predictable path. Some need flexibility. Some need a second chance. Some simply need a school designed differently than the one they attended before. Our job is not to look at where a student has been and make a prediction about where they are going. Our job is to help create a path that may not exist yet.
I think the same principle applies to the charter school movement in South Carolina, and it is one of the reasons membership in the Public Charter School Alliance of South Carolina matters so much to me—both as a charter school leader and as Board Chair of the Alliance.
At its best, the charter movement is an exercise in possibility.
Charter schools exist because someone was willing to ask, What if we did this differently? What if there were another way to serve a particular group of students? What if educators had the freedom to build something new? What if we stopped allowing what is probable to define what is possible?
Our own story is a testament to the importance of having partners willing to ask those questions alongside us.
For nearly 14 years, the Alliance has been an essential partner in our work. Early on, when we were first establishing our approach to virtual education, they helped us navigate the complex legislative and regulatory landscape. Their support gave us room to rethink what virtual programs could do and set us on a path of innovation that continues today as we explore new blended learning opportunities.
The Alliance has been more than an association we belong to. It has been a true thought partner—helping us understand the landscape, navigate challenges, connect with other leaders, and think seriously about what could come next.
That is why the Alliance’s new strategic plan, The Path Forward, resonates with me.
A path forward cannot simply be about protecting what we already have. It has to create room for what comes next.
Over the past several legislative cycles, the Alliance has helped strengthen the foundation for charter schools across South Carolina. That work happens through relationships, advocacy, policy conversations, technical assistance, and the steady work of making sure charter school voices—and the voices of the families they serve—are represented when important decisions are being made.
This past legislative session was another reminder of why that collective voice matters. Individual schools can advocate for their students and communities, but there are challenges and opportunities bigger than any one school. We need an organization capable of seeing the entire landscape, bringing schools together, and helping the charter community move toward what comes next.
That is what membership means to me.
It is easy to think of membership in terms of what my organization receives: support, expertise, relationships, advocacy, professional learning, or a phone call when we are trying to solve a problem. Those things matter. We have benefited from all of them.
But membership also means accepting some responsibility for the charter community we are building together.
The strongest charter environment isn’t one where a handful of established schools succeed. It is one where good schools can grow, new ideas can emerge, leaders can learn from one another, and families have access to educational opportunities that may not exist today.
Some of the schools that will benefit from the work the Alliance is doing today have not opened yet. Some haven’t been approved yet. Some may not even have been imagined yet.
Somewhere in South Carolina, there may be an educator, parent, community leader, or entrepreneur who sees a group of students who could be served differently and begins to consider whether there might be another way.
They don’t know the name of their school yet. They don’t know all the obstacles they will encounter. They certainly don’t know every student whose life might eventually be changed because they decided to pursue an idea that, at the beginning, didn’t seem particularly probable.
But that idea can only become a reality if the conditions exist for someone to pursue it.
Because of the foundation being built today—including the policy work, advocacy, guidance, relationships, and network—they will not have to build alone.
That, to me, is the real promise of the Alliance’s Path Forward.
It is not simply a roadmap for the schools that exist today. It is an investment in the schools, leaders, ideas, and opportunities that have not arrived yet.
The path forward is also the path not yet invented.
Our responsibility is to make sure there is enough foundation beneath it, enough freedom around it, and enough people willing to believe in it that someone can take the first step.
That’s why Alliance membership matters.
Because none of us knows exactly what the future of public education in South Carolina will look like.
But together, we can keep expanding what is possible.