A New Era of School Finance
The McCourt School of Public Policy’s 2016 LEAD Conference, A New Era of School Finance, led by Seattle-based research center Edunomics Lab, convened leading authorities for a dialogue on the complexities of education finance in light of the new Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
The conference sessions examined how leadership roles at each level – federal, state, district and school – will be affected by the emerging school finance climate. Building on research by Edunomics Lab and new federal K-12 policies outlined in ESSA, Edunomics Lab hosted a workshop, plenary and expert panel discussion tackling these issues.
Dr. Marguerite Roza presented her research on harnessing “School Effects” in education policy at the 2016 LEAD Conference.
Keynote
Former U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who served as keynote speaker, told the audience of approximately 150 attendees that policies going forward must empower state and local educators and administrators – those who intimately understand their students, budgets, and communities – with the flexibility to meet federal guidelines, as opposed to Washington mandating certain approaches
Expert Panel
The conference also convened a diverse group of panelists who together spoke about the shifting roles in education finance decisions in light of ESSA. The panel included Emma Vadehra, Chief of Staff to U.S. Education Secretary John King; Stephen Bowen, Director of Innovation at the Council of Chief State School Officers; Dr. Lewis Ferebee, Superintendent of Indianapolis Public Schools; and Scott Cartland, Principal of DC Public Schools’ Wheatley Education Campus. Dr. Stefanie Sanford, Chief of Global Policy, Advocacy & Communications at the College Board, moderated the panel
