« What Do Charter Schools and Small Businesses Have in Common - Andrew Epstein »

In Chapter 9 of 19 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, charter school executive Andrew Epstein compares running a charter school to managing a small business. Epstein notes schools have customers, the families and students, employees, the staff, revenues and expenses. Like small businesses, sustainability is key to charter school finance and operations. Epstein notes the importance of monitoring per pupil financial allocations and optimizing the education experience delivered from that investment. Epstein is currently Senior Director for Finance at Democracy Prep Public Schools in New York City. Previously, he was a finance executive at Universal Music Group's Island Def Jam Records and, previous to that, a schoolteacher in the Teach for America Corps program. He holds a BA from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Columbia Business School.