Rich Haglund

Rich Haglund

2016 NACSA Leader

General Counsel and Chief Operating Officer, Achievement School District

Rich Haglund currently serves as the General Counsel and Chief Operating Officer for the Achievement School District (ASD). Rich ensures that the ASD and its portfolio of schools have excellent operational services, equitable access to resources (funding and facilities), and legal guidance to realize their mission of turning around many of the state’s lowest performing schools.

Prior to joining the ASC, he has served as the director of charter schools for the Tennessee Department of Education, general counsel to the Tennessee Board of Education, and as an assistant attorney general.

Rich has a B.A. in Philosophy and Political Science from Boston University. Prior to earning his J.D. at Vanderbilt, Rich worked in marketing for a manufacturer of network security and management devices.


Most Recent Posts
No Shortcuts to Student Success: The Case for Statewide Annual Assessments
When I think about why I’ve dedicated my career to advancing and strengthening the ideas and practices of authorizing, I think about the students I’ve met over the years—bright, curious...
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Raising the Bar: NACSA’s Updated State Policy Recommendations
NACSA believes that strong laws enable strong authorizing. In turn, strong authorizing leads to strong public education outcomes for students, families, and communities. That’s why we regularly update our state...
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A New Path Forward: NACSA’s Bold New School Application Guidance
I’ll never forget a foundational principle I learned nearly two decades ago, while authorizing in Indianapolis: It should be hard to gain approval to start a new charter school. But...
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