“Life is about creating and living experiences that are worth sharing.”- Steve Jobs
Meet Mark Claypool, a pioneer in the public-private education sector who exemplifies Steve Jobs’ quote everyday through his pioneering advocacy work for youth.
I had the opportunity to talk with Mark about his extraordinary work in the public-private partnership sector of education.
As I’ve noted within my philosophy of this mission, “Only a fool would try to build a business on public private partnership’s in education.”
2. When do you believe this social stigma or negative attitude toward public and private partnerships began?
There has been a common misconception that private organizations can only work in competition, instead of cooperation with their public school partners. Also, do you think certain parts of the public education sector resist private partnerships because it may be an admittance of lack or resources, challenges, failures or all of these factors?
There exists an unspoken but fairly pervasive belief among district leaders that school districts must do everything themselves, and with their own employees. With every partnership comes an obligation on the part of the private company to meet or exceed expectations and to be accountable to its customer.
The truth is, public school districts already take extensive advantage of public-private partnerships for transportation, food and custodial services.
Moving forward, these partnerships have the potential to make a real difference to an important part of our society: students struggling for an education, whether that includes students with academic, emotional or behavioral issues that can put them at risk of school failure.
When a partnership works efficiently and successfully, what the district, the community and students get out of it is invaluable.
Mark Claypool is a social entrepreneur who believes that all children can advance academically, behaviorally and socially if they are given the right tools in the right environment.
He obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and a Master of Arts in Sociology from Middle Tennessee State University. He has held various positions in both state government and the private sector in mental health, juvenile corrections and education, and has more than two decades of experience in K-12 education, special and alternative education, behavioral health and residential treatment programs.
A social worker and education administrator, Mark grew frustrated by decreasing resources for children with learning differences, so he founded Educational Services of America (ESA) in 1999. Under his leadership, the company has become the nation’s leading provider of behavior therapy and alternative and special education programs for children and young adults, and, in 2015, completed a rebranding to ChanceLight Behavioral Health, Therapy and Education.
Mark is a judge of the annual Penn Graduate School of Education Business Plan Competition a panelist at the annual BMO Harris Back to School Education Conference. He is a frequent speaker about the value of public-private partnerships in education and behavioral learning, and, in 2015, he co-authored a book exploring the topic: We’re in This Together: Public-Private Partnerships in Special and At-Risk Education.
Mark serves on the advisory board for the Association of Professional Behavior Analysts and is co-writing a book examining the discord between special education practice and the growing discipline of Applied Behavior Analysis for children who have autism spectrum and related disorders.
He volunteers to read to children at a Nashville elementary school and is president of the board of directors of Book’Em, a nonprofit that seeks to inspire a love of books and reading in all children, and collects and distributes books to children and teens in lower-income families who might not otherwise have books of their own.
See this short video below to learn more about the book, We’re in This Together: Public-Private Partnerships in Special and At-Risk Education
