In June 2021, 20 years to the month after Buck Financial Advisors was formed to specialize in charter school facility finance, the company closed two transactions which put it over the $5 billion mark of charter school financings. Buck Financial will cross the 200 charter school transaction threshold soon, has closed transactions in 18 states and will be hitting the 20 state mark soon, as well.
Many of these transactions have been fixed-rate, fully amortizing tax-exempt bonds. But, the beauty of being an independent financial advisor is that you aren’t “married” to a single financing source. Other types of transactions Buck Financial has closed for charter schools include New Markets Tax Credits, bank loans, CDFI loans, private sources, subordinate debt, Qualified School Construction Bonds, Qualified Zone Academy Bonds, Bond Anticipation Notes, and probably several others I can’t quite remember. It has also been fun to combine several sources of funding to bring in more than one form of subsidy to benefit charter school clients on numerous occasions.
The charter school industry has come quite a long way since the first financings in the early 2000s. We’ve seen the growth of charter management organizations, tens of millions in philanthropic dollars donated, high quality organizations being asked to cross state lines into new states, public teacher union push-back, the hypocrisy of the Democratic Party’s pretense to care about low-income and minority families be laid bare, and several states which developed credit enhancement programs to assist charter school facility financing. All along the way, families have continued to be drawn to this public school option, as national charter school enrollment and the number of students on waitlists have consistently grown over these two decades. People want choice, and there are many high quality charter schools available to give them that choice despite opponents’ efforts to thwart that ability to choose. It is important the charter school industry stay focused on students and avoid becoming that which it first rebelled against almost 30 years ago in Minnesota.
A heartfelt thank you to all the clients of Buck Financial, and the numerous professionals and others with whom long-term relationships have developed. Its been an honor to serve you and work with you, and I am very gratified that many relationships have transcended the business world and become personal friendships. And, neither charter schools nor Buck Financial Advisors are done yet. Looking forward to seeing even more growth and improvement in the industry over the next decade, and assisting even more high-quality charter schools change the life trajectory of the students and families they serve.