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What Local Education Funds Do
Local education funds aim to change the status quo. LEFs work in eight outcome areas. These eight areas articulate the implicit outcomes of PEN’s seven strategic interventions and are clustered in relationship to the two arenas in which LEFs’ work contributes: the civic capacity and the school/district capacity.
Civic capacity is the extent to which different sectors of the community – business, parents, educators, state and local officeholders, nonprofits, and others – act together around matters of community-wide importance. This involves mobilization -- that is, bringing different sectors together -- but also development of a shared plan of action. To be lasting, civic capacity needs an institutional foundation for interaction among elites, and a “grassroots” base through which ordinary citizens are engaged.
School district capacity involves the ability to set an overall direction that is well understood by staff at all levels of the district. It includes the ability to use data to make decisions about allocating resources and program directions, and leadership that supports ongoing innovation and learning. It translates into coherence across levels of the district, supporting program implementation and communication of clear expectations for student learning. And it involves coordination with relevant services in the community and a responsiveness to public and community concerns.
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"Local education funds (LEFs) have been
formed across the United States over the last
fifteen years with the goal of supporting and
challenging public school districts to do a better
job of serving low income children and their
families...It is difficult to describe the work
of these organizations [local education funds]
succinctly,
because they often operate purposefully as “invisible hands,” brokering
partnerships among diverse
groups, and because their locally adapted work embraces a rich and flexible
mix of initiatives."
Elizebeth Useem in
From
the Margins to the Center of School Reform
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