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At Work At School

An Afton Partners Blog

All Posts

Impact of the Proposed New Child Care Rule on Families and Providers

In July 2023, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) program. CCDF is the primary federal grant that provides child care assistance to low-income working families with children under the age of 13. In addition to policy changes designed to… Continued

Defining Financial BOLDNESS in Innovative School Plans

School teams around the country are creating and implementing innovative academic models, bringing a personalized approach to student learning. Afton has engaged with hundreds of schools as they build these plans, encouraging innovative financial thinking alongside. In many competitive public and philanthropic grant programs, one of the rubric components that Afton has used is for… Continued

Afton Provides Recommendations for State Education Agencies on ESSA Financial Transparency Requirement

In February 2018, Afton Partners joined Edunomics Lab, the Building State Capacity and Productivity Center, and the Council for Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) who hosted a one-day conference for over 30 State Education Agencies (SEAs). Afton led a session focused on how state agencies can play a role in fostering the usage of per-pupil financial data at the local level. We reflected on the role of State Education Agencies in fostering effective use of school site-based expenditure reporting. Our conclusion was that SEAs can do a lot to encourage effective use of this data, including training, issuing reporting guidance, clearly defining roles/responsibilities between state/local, and leading dialogue on the value of the reporting. Continued

The Business of Education: A Lesson in Financial Sustainability for School Systems

Afton Conducts Professional Seminar on Innovation in Education for the University of Virginia’s MBA/MED Program Key takeaways: Finance is only one of several pillars for assessing and sustaining innovation in education. Real-world content, including case studies, lessons learned, and application of financial best practices, is becoming increasingly valuable to help cultivate financial acumen in education… Continued

New Report: Finance Trends in K-12 Education

Over five years, Afton’s work has evolved from “nuts and bolts” financial operations support to the kind of work that is truly in line with our vision – aligning financial practices to effective academic strategies in America’s schools. Through our work in states and school districts across the country, we identified eight key trends that… Continued

Surviving the Storm, Building Anew

Reflections on Education Reform in NOLA, Ten Years On – Before Hurricane Katrina, public schools in New Orleans had a reputation as some of the worst schools in the country. The district served 65,000 students, but most parents chose private schools for their children if their family resources allowed it. The majority of the public schools were failing both academically and physically… Continued

Finding the Right Balance: Autonomy to Promote Equity—and Academic Success

School districts adjust to prevailing circumstances to promote autonomy, responsibility, and positive change – Much of Afton’s work in recent months has been toward providing principals and teachers at schools with discretion over a relatively higher proportion of total district spending. This in turn allows individual schools more flexibility and discretion in allocating resources that at most districts are already strained… Continued

Roadmap to Reform: Promoting Success in Missouri

Education reform strategy suggests departing from current school funding methods, reallocating funds to empower educators and promote academic achievement, say CEE-Trust and Public Impact. Individual urban schools in America are achieving outstanding results for students from low-income communities. But no urban school systems are achieving such results for most children in an entire city. Faced… Continued

Intrinsic Value: Lessons Learned at a Start-up CMO

Establishing a new blended learning program means stepping out in a whole new direction – I’m a financial analyst who wants to apply my skills to help America’s public schools. Usually, I’m elbow-deep in reports, or parsing spreadsheets on a screen, or in planning and review meetings with schools and board committees… Continued