Two distinct forces recently converged in Utah that led to the Board of Education office creating a training and mentoring program for new special education administrators and teachers: simultaneous steady growth of charter schools and nagging concerns about the quality of special education programs in these new schools and Results Driven Accountability (RDA) under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Utah's Strong Start Academy initiative is an example of a state education agency proactively investing resources to ensure new special education directors, working in both charter and traditional public schools, have the technical knowledge, skills and support required for them to succeed. Other states can learn from Utah's efforts to make early investments that have the promise of paying dividends for students with disabilities in both types of schools and break down the walls between charter and traditional public schools.