Charlie Bufalino

Charlie joins the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools as Senior Director of State Advocacy and Support, working toward improving public charter school laws across the country and supporting the growth and expansion of high-quality public charter schools.  Formerly, Charlie served the state of Tennessee as the Assistant Commissioner of Policy & Legislative Affairs for the Department of Education and Governor’s Office.  In this role, he successfully executed the passage of 13 administration education bills, highlighted by the historic passage of major reforms including: The Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement Act (a full overhaul of Tennessee’s K-12 funding formula for the first time in 30 years); The Literacy Success Act (foundational reform of early literacy instruction, teacher preparation, and funding supports); and The Tennessee Learning Loss Remediation and Student Acceleration Act (permanently established summer learning camps and tutoring opportunities for at-risk students).

Charlie began his career as a start-up employee of Rocketship Education, where he helped drive overall national expansion efforts by leading growth strategy, policy and legislative advocacy work, and the writing and securing charters.  Charlie graduated from Pomona College with a bachelor’s degree in History, and received his Master’s in Public Policy from Vanderbilt University. Charlie has spent his career working in education reform due to his concern with eliminating the achievement gap, the systemic effects of poverty on society, and education's role in alleviating these ills.  He also moonlights as a recreational hockey player, desperately clinging to the hope of an NHL call-up.