All about Charter Schools and the Missing Innovation Pipeline with Duncan Robb

EPISODE · Mar 3, 2026 · 59 MIN

All about Charter Schools and the Missing Innovation Pipeline with Duncan Robb

from The Purple Zone · host Alexis Morgan

Send us Fan MailIdaho has had charter schools for nearly three decades. They were created to innovate, and the question today is: are they doing that? In this episode, I’m joined by Duncan Robb, education policy expert and the writer behind the Substack K–12 Education in Idaho (k12educationidaho.substack.com). We break down the basics, what charter schools are (and aren’t), how they’re governed, and the role of the Idaho Public Charter School Commission...then zoom out to the bigger policy design question: if charters were meant to be “labs of innovation,” who is responsible for making sure what works actually transfers to traditional public schools? We also talk through current education policy debates, including state testing, accountability, and what meaningful flexibility really looks like in practice. By the end of the conversation, it was clear we had only scratched the surface, so stay tuned for more conversations with Duncan as we continue digging into charter schools and education policy in Idaho. Bonus: Duncan and I don’t agree on everything, which makes for a fun conversation.Find Alexis on Instagram and JOIN in the conversation: https://www.instagram.com/the_idaho_lady/JOIN the convo on Substack & STAY up-to-date with emails and posts https://substack.com/@theidaholady?r=5katbx&utm_campaign=profile&utm_medium=profile-pageSend Alexis an email with guest requests, ideas, or potential [email protected] great resources, info on school communities, and other current projects regarding public policy:https://www.thealexismorgan.com

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All about Charter Schools and the Missing Innovation Pipeline with Duncan Robb

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