On February 1, Dave Machado became the Coalition’s executive director. He succeeds Lindalyn Kakadelis, who has served in the role since the organization’s inception.
Dave comes to the Coalition with decades of experience in charter school leadership and oversight. He served as chief administrator at Lincoln Charter School—now North Carolina’s largest charter school—for 14 years. After that, he led the state’s Office of Charter Schools, and more recently, has worked for Charter Schools USA as North Carolina’s state superintendent. Dave also served as a member of the state’s Charter Schools Advisory Board (now Charter Schools Review Board) from 2022 until his resignation in January.
Kristen Blair, the Coalition’s communications director, spoke with Dave about his charter school experience, his goals for the Coalition—even his favorite charter school moment. We include the full interview below.
Dave, welcome to the Coalition! What drew you to the executive director role?
Dave Machado: I’ve been involved in North Carolina’s charter school movement for over 25 years, in various capacities. That experience has shown me just how effective the Coalition has been in its advocacy for charter schools—securing legislative wins with funding, autonomy, and oversight. In fact, I believe the Coalition is the single most effective advocacy group we have in the state.
So, given my appreciation for the Coalition’s work, when I had an opportunity to join, I said, “Yes, absolutely!”
Could you share how your professional experience has enriched your work with charter schools, and how it impacts your perspective moving forward?
Dave: Here’s an interesting fact about me: Before I became involved in the charter school movement, I actually worked in private industry and sales. And I believe my sales and management background has helped me in my work with charter schools. By design, charter schools are schools of choice. So, we need to know and understand our “customers”—our students, parents, and families. If we don’t provide them with an excellent education, eventually they will leave.
When I became chief administrator at Lincoln Charter School, it was such an exciting time in my life—to see a school launch with 450 students and then grow significantly in size and impact. Before I left, we had close to 2,000 students. I don’t take sole credit for that journey or the school’s growth. I had a great team.
But to be able to make a difference in students’ and teachers’ lives—and also use our charter school flexibility to change course if we needed to? That’s what made me want to continue my journey in the charter school world.
How has the charter movement in North Carolina changed across the arc of your career?
Dave: When charter schools first started, there weren’t that many of us; nor were people really looking at us. Still, some people were taking a chance on charters. And then, a lot of charter schools proved that they could educate children in an innovative way.
As time went on, the charter school movement changed, especially in terms of expectations. When it first started, schools were located in churches, strip malls, or modular buildings. Now, in today’s landscape, charter school start-ups feel like they have to compete—not only with traditional public schools, but also with these very successful charter schools that have beautiful facilities.
People don’t realize that it took 10-20 years to acquire these beautiful facilities. There’s a lot of sweat equity that went into these facilities, but currently, everybody wants all of that right now. I think that’s one of the biggest changes I’ve seen in the landscape: New charter schools want to duplicate what it took our existing charter schools 10-20 years to establish.
What are the greatest challenges for the charter sector? Does having a facility top the list?
Dave: It is definitely one of the top two or three issues because of the cost of finding a proper location. The cost of construction has gone through the roof right now. Interest rates are so much higher. Not having the capital to start is a challenge. Even our existing schools that have been fairly successful just don’t have the capital or access to capital. That is a huge issue so they can build an adequate facility.
Having a functional, efficient facility that makes everybody feel good about children’s education is really important. So, facilities and access to capital are the two big issues.
What are the greatest opportunities ahead?
Dave: Really, the greatest opportunities are the 80,000-90,000 students who are on our charter school waitlists right now. The demand for high quality charter schools is definitely there, and these students bear witness to that fact. I would frame the opportunity with this simple question: How can we meet that demand?
The fact is that parents are taking a much more active role in their children’s education now. Parents have options and opportunities—not only with different charter schools, but also with private schools, homeschools, or even choices within the traditional public school system. Clearly, there are a lot of options. That’s why, in my opinion, charter schools must continue to provide the best education they can.
I used to say to my staff at Lincoln Charter School, “We have to give our families a reason to come to our school every single day. They are not coming to us because they’re assigned to us.”
If we stick to that, stay on our toes, and try to respond to those needs, I think we’ll be fine.
What are your near-term goals for the Coalition in 2025?
Dave: First, I want to get to know the Coalition Board members very well. Then, I want to reach out to all of our existing Coalition members. I probably know most of them already from my days at the Office of Charter Schools! But I want to be a good partner for them and let them know that the Coalition is here to advocate for them—to push for fair funding and charter autonomy. I want to make sure they know that in the Coalition, they have a voice and partner in Raleigh.
I also hope to reach out to a lot of the schools that aren’t members right now and explain to them the great things the Coalition has accomplished over the last six years. We really need their support.
What are some of your longer-term goals for the Coalition—and for charter advocacy more broadly?
Dave: Charter school leaders across the state reflect vast diversity in their views and political preferences, but we need to be able to work together to achieve our common goals of fair funding and charter autonomy. We could try to do that in multiple ways—but we also have to know who our friends are, who is truly backing our charter movement. And our charter families need to know who our friends are in Raleigh and make sure that they stay on as decision makers.
Right now, we have a charter-friendly General Assembly. We need to make sure we keep it that way. The Coalition has accomplished great things, but we still have a lot more to do. We need to ensure that our families and leaders, who have diverse beliefs politically, are all working together for the good of the charter movement.
What is your favorite charter school moment?
Dave: My favorite moment goes all the way back to my days at Lincoln Charter School. It took place during graduation week, with all of its pomp and circumstance. During that week, it was so heartening to see all of these students—some of whom had been with us since kindergarten—walk across that stage as great, contributing citizens. As school leaders, we had the assurance that we had prepared them well. When students would come back to visit in the fall, it was so affirming to hear comments like this: “Mr. Machado, my chemistry class at N.C. State wasn’t nearly as hard as my chemistry class at Lincoln Charter. Thanks for preparing us!”
Those kinds of conversations just constantly fill my tank—seeing students come back and hearing how successful they have been. I have stayed in touch with student alumni from Lincoln Charter. Now, they have their own families. Some of our graduates are even back at Lincoln Charter as teachers.
All of that represents my favorite—and proudest—charter school moment.
Is there anything I didn’t ask that you’d like to share with the state’s charter leaders?
Dave: My style has always been focused on collaboration. I know what I don’t know, and I’m comfortable in my own skin. I want everybody to know this: I would like to collaborate personally with all charter school stakeholders, particularly our Coalition members. I want to be a great partner in moving this charter movement forward in North Carolina.
We’ve made some great strides in the past. I hope to build on that foundation.
Above photo credit: Dave Machado/CSUSA.
