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About Us2023-09-21T23:38:57+00:00

About Us

Edunomics Lab is a Georgetown University research center dedicated to exploring and modeling complex education finance decisions to inform education policy and practice. The end goal is the betterment of education, writ large. Established in 2012, the center is nationally recognized as a leader in the field of education finance.

Marguerite Roza
Marguerite Roza
Director

Marguerite Roza, Ph.D., is Director of the Edunomics Lab and Research Professor at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy, where she leads the Certificate in Education Finance program.

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Dr. Roza’s research focuses on quantitative policy analysis, largely in the education finance arena. She has led projects including the Institute for Education Sciences multi-year study of weighted student funding, the Finance and Productivity Initiative at the Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) and the Schools in Crisis Rapid Response Paper Series. Her recent research traces the effects of fiscal policies at the federal, state, and district levels for their implications on resources at the school and classroom levels. Her calculations of dollar implications and cost-equivalent trade-offs have prompted changes in education finance policy at all levels in the education system. As part of her groundbreaking work on weighted student funding, Dr. Roza devised a “%SBA metric,” enabling an apples-to-apples comparison of total district funds in a WSF formula. This metric is now commonly recognized as the foundational measurement of WSF formulas nationwide.

Dr. Roza has written extensively on financial transparency and the opportunity toward equity and productivity. Her work has been published by the Brookings Institution, Public Budgeting and Finance, Education Next, Governing, The Hill, and the Peabody Journal of Education. She is author of the highly regarded education finance book, Educational Economics: Where Do School Funds Go?

Dr. Roza served as a Senior Economic Advisor to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy teaching thermodynamics at the Naval Nuclear Power School. She earned a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Washington and a B.S. from Duke University, and has studied at the London School of Economics and the University of Amsterdam.

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Aashish (Ash) Dhammani
Aashish (Ash) Dhammani

Research Fellow

Debra Britt
Debra Britt

Strategic Communications Manager

Jessica Swanson
Jessica Swanson

Senior Fellow

Jordan Tollefson
Jordan Tollefson

Education Director

Katie Silberstein
Katie Silberstein

Strategic Projects Lead

Laura Anderson
Laura Anderson

Associate Director

Maggie Cicco
Maggie Cicco

Research Fellow

Megan Brown
Megan Brown

Program Specialist

Andrew Lee
Andrew Lee

MDI Scholar

Isabel Mu
Isabel Mu

Project Assistant

Judy Zhou
Judy Zhou

Project Assistant

ADVISORY BOARD

Our advisory board members bring a diverse set of experiences and expertise to inform, improve, and support our work.

Phillip Caldwell, II, Ph.D.
Phillip Caldwell, II, Ph.D.

Eastern Michigan University

Matthew Chingos, Ph.D.
Matthew Chingos, Ph.D.

Urban Institute

Steven Q. Cornman
Steven Q. Cornman

National Center for Education Statistics

Taurus Currie
Taurus Currie

Shelby County Schools

Sue Deigaard
Sue Deigaard

Consultant

Gordan Ford
Gordan Ford

Lincoln Preparatory Schools

Jon Fullerton, Ph.D.
Jon Fullerton, Ph.D.

Harvard University

Robert M. Groves, Ph.D.
Robert M. Groves, Ph.D.

Georgetown University

Victoria Hammer, Ph.D.
Victoria Hammer, Ph.D.

United States Department of Education

Jesse D. Levin, Ph.D.
Jesse D. Levin, Ph.D.

American Institutes of Research

Yvonne Macrae, Ph.D.
Yvonne Macrae, Ph.D.

Boston Public Schools

Christopher May
Christopher May

Michigan Department of Education

Gini Pupo-Walker
Gini Pupo-Walker

The Education Trust

Jasmin Ramirez
Jasmin Ramirez

School Board Partners

Kimberly J. Robinson, J.D.
Kimberly J. Robinson, J.D.

University of Virginia

Kenneth Shores, Ph.D.
Kenneth Shores, Ph.D.

Pennsylvania State University

Thaddeus Smith
Thaddeus Smith

African American Black Parent Advisory Committee

Andraé Townsel
Andraé Townsel

Calvert County Public Schools

Kai Turner
Kai Turner

Oregon Department of Education

Michael Wiltfong
Michael Wiltfong

Oregon Department of Education

Acknowledgement of funding sources

In our 10-year history, Edunomics Lab has received funding from a range of public and private sources for our work toward more equitable distribution of public resources, to enhance financial fluency and transparency, and to equip systems to better leverage public resources to do the most for students. We are grateful that these topics enjoy support at all levels of the education system and across a range of ideological perspectives.

Edunomics Lab is a non-partisan research center at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy. All views, findings, and conclusions expressed are those of Edunomics Lab only and do not necessarily reflect the views of those listed below.

ABM Industries*
Afton Partners
AASA, The Superintendents Association
Laura and John Arnold Foundation
Barr Foundation
Best NC
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Broad Center
Building State Capacity & Productivity Center
Cambiar Education
CASEL
Center on Reinventing Public Education
Central Regional Education Association (ND)*
City Fund
City of Wilmington, DE
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
Charles Koch Foundation
Collaborative for Student Success*
College Board

Council of Chief State School Officers
CT State Board of Education
Ed Solutions
Education Resource Strategies*
Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation
Equitable Institute
The Holdsworth Center
Houston Independent School District (TX)
Idaho, State of
Il State Board of Education
Institute of Education Sciences
Kern Family Foundation
Lynch Foundation
Michael & Susan Dell Foundation
NALEO
National Center
New America Foundation
New Schools Venture Fund
New Venture Fund

Oak Foundation
Pearson Virtual Schools*
Public Education Foundation
Raikes Foundation
Regional Comprehensive Center 8
Regional Comprehensive Center 14
Regional Opportunties Consortium of Idaho
SC Education Oversight Committee*
School Board Partners
Schoolzilla
School Seed
Smith Richardson Foundation
This Sector Intelligence
TN Department of Education
US Chamber Foundation
Walton Family Foundation
W.K. Kellogg Foundation

Numerous local and state education agencies*

*Denotes >$10,000 in registration fees or tuition paid to Georgetown University for trainings, workshops or certification programs conducted by Edunomics Lab. If you have any questions, please contact us at edunomics@georgetown.edu.