Rob Fortson, a partner at McGuireWoods and senior vice president at its consulting arm, served as a Teach for America corps member in Baltimore City Public Schools and later worked at the U.S. Department of Education.

He now represents schools in Georgia on legal, policy, regulatory and business matters. In several recent cases, Fortson and his team identified millions of dollars in funding deficits and helped clients restore these funds from the local school district. One case led to an out-of-court effort that recovered almost $1 million in annual funding for his clients' schools.

At McGuireWoods Consulting, Fortson has worked with a coalition to increase funding for all of Georgia's charter schools.

What was serving in Teach for America like?

Teaching high school English in Baltimore was the hardest and most rewarding job I've ever had. Every day felt like an accomplishment. It is the only career I can think of that would allow a 22-year-old with no prior experience to supervise 120 people on a daily basis. I felt the weight, and often the guilt of being the only English instructor my students would have for the year. It was a tremendous responsibility and taught me how to be a strong leader, communicator and motivator.

Teach For America provided a path for me to enter the teaching profession, a career that I likely wouldn't have otherwise considered much less had the courage to pursue. TFA also gave me a community and a support network. I lived with fellow corps members throughout my time in Baltimore, and they are still some of my closest friends. We carried each other's burdens as we learned how to be professional educators in a large urban school district.

Did you go to law school with the goal of working on education law?

Yes, I had been interested in the policy of education prior to joining TFA. However, it took me a long time to figure out how to make a career as an education lawyer. Traditionally, a legal practice in education involves representing school districts or departments of education, primarily as an adviser on compliance issues.

What interested me most, however, was the business side of education, maximizing available resources to reform the system and make it work better for kids. Advising charter schools offers that opportunity, because I'm able to partner with educational innovators, often from the school's inception, and help them navigate the challenges of operating a heavily regulated small business without compromising the vision/mission of their academic model.

What is a common misconception about charter schools?

One common misconception about charter schools is that they are private schools or that they can pick and choose which kids to enroll. State and federal law requires a charter school to accept any applicant as long as space is available. Moreover, charter schools are held accountable for their racial and socioeconomic diversity. Thus, if a charter school's student demographics do not reflect the diversity of its attendance zone, the school is expected to bolster recruitment efforts and target underserved populations.

Another misconception is that the closure of some charter schools is evidence that the model is flawed or should be abandoned. Charters are by definition designed to offer innovation that is unavailable in the traditional academic setting. As with any other industry, attempts to break new ground are not always successful. The value that charters bring to the educational ecosystem is this disruptive innovation and outside-the-box strategies for improving student outcomes.