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At Work At School

An Afton Partners Blog

All Posts

ESSER: Our Latest Window to Unjust Public Education Funding

School systems across the nation are continuing to face a unique challenge: effectively distributing the influx of education funding that came with the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER). Yet headline after headline places much of the blame on schools themselves for their spending struggles, arguing that they are too slow to distribute… Continued

Iron Sharpens Iron: Collaboration Amongst Memphis Charter School CFOs

When I think of Memphis, Tenn., I think of resiliency. The vote to disband Memphis City Schools, seceding into six separate school districts, proved to be an egregious example of intentional segregation. That choice deepened existing opportunity gaps facing Tennessee’s highest-need students, while allowing school funding inequities to persist. But Memphis Shelby County Schools and… Continued

Finance for Equity & Outcomes: Afton’s Discussion with the Broad Academy Fellows

In September 2019, Afton’s Carrie Stewart and Katie Reed had the opportunity to discuss resource allocation as a lever for equity and driving student outcomes with fellows in the Broad Academy and their finance leads through The Broad Center. This group of highly motivated, accomplished education sector professionals are driving excellence and equity on a daily… 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

The School System Financial “Playbook”

Afton’s work with public schools around the country has allowed us to surface simple best practices to help school system leaders confidently lead and oversee the fiscal aspects of running a school system. Now, we are sharing what we have learned by developing a diagnostic tool and providing actionable recommendations for each part of the… Continued

2018 iNacol Panel Outcomes – Sustaining a Breakthrough School Model

For the second consecutive year, Afton’s Scott Milam and Katie Morrison-Reed hosted an expert panel on sustaining innovative public-school models.  This panel discussion built upon the discussion from a year prior at iNACOL, as four of the six panelists had previously shared their experiences and thoughts on sustainability on the prior year’s panel. As personalized… Continued

RBL Part 3 – Year 1 Cohort-Level Financial Analysis

This is the third installment of Afton’s blog series, “Lessons Learned from the Raising Blended Learners Initiative in Texas,” where we share our experiences, findings, and thought evolution over the course of the RBL initiative.  A detailed analysis of sources and uses of funds for the first year of the Raising Blended Learners grant program reveals: Sites plan… Continued

RBL Part 2 – Working Together: Supporting Grant Applicant Teams Through the Application Process

This is the second installment of Afton’s blog series, “Lessons Learned from the Raising Blended Learners Initiative in Texas,” where we share our experiences, findings, and thought evolution over the course of the RBL initiative.  After reading this blog, the reader will: Understand the benefit of providing in-person financial workshops to grant applicants Understand how finance involvement in… Continued

RBL Part 1 – Finance and Innovation: The Role of Finance in the Early Stages of Academic Innovation

This is the first installment of Afton’s blog series, “Lessons Learned from the Raising Blended Learners Initiative in Texas,” where we share our experiences, findings, and thought evolution over the course of the RBL initiative.  Engaging Finance early in the development of new school models allows school design teams to: Empower school leaders with financial data to… 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