BEYOND THE BACK OFFICE

Why K–12 Procurement is a Dynamic Profession

When most people think about schools, they picture classrooms, teachers, and students. Rarely do they think about the professionals who make sure every resource, from curriculum to cafeteria food to technology, is in place to support learning. Yet in K–12 education, procurement is an incredibly dynamic profession that fuels the entire student experience.

Collaboration at the Core

Unlike the private sector, public procurement thrives on collaboration rather than competition. We have interviewed countless professionals within school districts and collaboration is a constant theme. And that collaboration doesn’t just occur within the school but with neighboring school districts that share bids, insights, and strategies. As our board members have discussed, schools lean on one another through cooperatives. In turn, the K12 procurement professionals don’t view others as competitors. If one school doesn’t have the time or the leverage to bid on an item, they can piggyback others.

Events like NIGP’s Forum demonstrate a spirit of shared problem-solving creates and environment where professionals learn from each other, improve processes, and ultimately deliver better outcomes for their communities. 

Every Day is Different

What we have discovered over the past fife years of writing EnvisionED K12  is that procurement in education is anything but monotonous. From sourcing curriculum and facility services to food programs and technology, the variety is vast. No two days are the same. It’s not just approving purchase orders, it’s actual growth in areas you didn’t realize a school may need. That variety keeps the work fresh while requiring professionals to be agile, adaptable, and creative problem-solvers.

A Mission-Driven Profession

At its heart, procurement in K–12 serves the same mission as teachers: helping students succeed. By ensuring schools have the right resources, procurement professionals enable educators to focus on teaching instead of logistics. The mission is to educate and empower the students to graduate ready to enter the world. Procurement professionals are an intimate part of setting their students up for success. And in what we have found in our interviews and our discussions with the Canon K12 advisory board, that sense of purpose elevates procurement from transactional to transformational.

In the field of procurement, relationships are as valuable as contracts. Leaders rely on networks of peers who willingly share RFPs, lessons learned, and market research. Maintaining those connections helps procurement teams make smarter decisions and stay ahead of change.

It’s also about investing in people because those are the greatest assets in making sure everyone is successful in the end.

Adapting to a Changing Landscape

Perhaps the most defining quality of procurement today is its constant evolution. With shrinking bandwidth, increasing demands, and new technologies, professionals must streamline, standardize, and innovate—without losing sight of the human relationships at the center of their work.

When we talked with people at NIGP’s Forum, we found that adaptability to change is critical. The best and bright in the filed realize that the biggest thing with procurement is that is is always changing.

A Profession Worth Elevating

Procurement is no longer a hidden, back-office function. It’s a strategic cornerstone of K–12 success, ensuring that the educational mission doesn’t falter because of missed contracts, overlooked services, or fragmented processes.

The challenge now is to elevate the profession so it continues to attract the best talent—people who see procurement not just as a job, but as a career path that blends problem-solving, service, and leadership. Because in the end, procurement isn’t just about buying things. It’s about building the foundation for student success.