Katie Poulos

2016 NACSA Leader

Director of Options for Parents, New Mexico Public Education Department

Katie Poulos joined the New Mexico Public Education Department in April 2015 as the Director of Options for Parents. Previously, she was the Director of Accountability at the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools (ASBCS). She began her charter school authorizing work at ASBCS through the NACSA Fellows program.

Prior to entering the charter school authorizing world, Katie taught 8th grade math in the Mississippi Delta with Teach For America. Before that, Katie was a corporate litigator with Irell and Manella LLP in Los Angeles.

Katie received her B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her J.D. from Vanderbilt University.

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...

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...

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...