LETTER FROM THE CEO

Friends -

Over the course of my career, I’ve had the opportunity to work with some of the best minds in education, finance, and economic development. But I’ve long believed that discussions related to expanding opportunity for our youth and improving education in low-income communities have been missing an important focus: the way states fund education simply does not promote justice, equity or opportunity. This is most evident in how state funding hinders our ability to close the achievement gap.

Consider this:

• Our funding system is regressive: Less than one-third of all states in the country have funding systems that allocate more resources for students and communities in need. Worse, 23 states actually provide less resources to lower-income communities. In these states, this leaves more than 13.3 million students in high poverty classrooms and at a clear disadvantage compared to their peers.

• Our funding system is arbitrary: Take Canton and Toledo, two largely urban districts in Ohio. These two districts serve the same general demographic of students, yet the state's complex and convoluted funding formula provides $5,000 more per student enrolled in Toledo public schools than it does for students living in the similarly situated community of Canton.

• Our funding system is outdated: In Georgia, more than 20% of funding provided by the state is associated with the characteristics of the teachers in the classroom rather than the needs of their students.

• Our funding system incentivizes the creation of needless borders that not only perpetuate segregation, but also ensures students who need the most resources won't get them. There are 32 school districts within a five-mile radius of Camden, New Jersey, many serving less than 3,000 students. Whereas Camden’s student poverty rate is more than 40%, their neighboring districts average less than 13% student poverty, and generate more than 20 times Camden’s local property taxes to fund their schools.

I firmly believe that we are consigning a growing number of children to a lower caste in a society that actively works against them. This begins with the way we fund our schools, particularly those that serve our students most in need of opportunity.

When we launched EdBuild, nearly everyone we spoke with cautioned that the issue of state funding systems for schools is politically rife and nebulous: this is not a central focus for foundations; the political challenges are too great to affect change. In short, though important, the issue was too dangerous to take on, and too complicated to untangle.

Despite these challenges, we have overcome the odds. In our first year, EdBuild has had success beyond my wildest dreams. In large part it’s because of those who have believed in my leadership, our talented staff, and a broader joint vision of a world in which all students have an equal start to life.

This issue is compelling, it’s front and center of everything that we do, and we’ve amassed an amazing group of antagonists ready to take this issue to the next level.

Here’s to another year of defying the odds.

Rebecca Sibilia, Founder & CEO

OUR VISION

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WE ENVISION A STATE

FUNDING SYSTEM THAT:

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PROVIDES RESOURCES

for students based on their needs and delivers additional funds for struggling communities.

FUNDS STUDENTS

fairly and equitably, regardless of their zip codes or the public school model they attend

PROMOTES OPPORTUNITY

through school district boundaries based on geography and municipal borders rather than property value.

by 2020

4 states will have successfully passed funding formula reform, and will have moved to a weighted student funding system that prioritizes student need.

2 million low income students will receive more education funding than they do today.

All states will have the tools needed to replicate successful weighted student funding formulas.

The segregating nature of our state funding systems will become an issue of national prominence.

Education finance reform will be seen as a key equalizer in educational outcomes for children.

2015 ACCOMPLISHMENTS

STATE ENGAGEMENTS

EdBuild is actively supporting funding reform efforts in two states.

Our work in these states will benefit 1.3 million FRL students.

OUR NATIONAL VOICE

EdBuild began developing our national voice through the release of three major data products.

Our work was featured in 8 national media outlets, including The Washington Post, Vox, The Atlantic’s CityLab, The Huffington Post, Mother Jones and many regional news outlets.

We estimate that between our national coverage and website analytics, over one million people have viewed our data products.