Project Structure
ABEC created a leadership team representing various stakeholders, co-chaired by one business and one education leader, to provide framework and direction for this initiative. The work of the leadership team resulted in the issuance of the project's
Guiding Principles & Framework in December 2008. Members of the leadership team (including original members) are:
Business:
- Jason Bagley (Intel Corporation), co-chair
- Dick Foreman (Southwest Gas Corporation)
- Dave Howell (Wells Fargo)
- Christopher Smith (Cox Communications)
- Suzanne Taylor (Arizona Chamber Of Commerce & Industry)
- *Eileen Klein (UnitedHealthcare)
Philanthropy:
- *Bob King (Arizona Community Foundation)
Education:
- Mary Kamerzell (Catalina Foothills Unified School District), co-chair
- Robin Berry (Palo Verde Elementary School District)
- Michael Block (BASIS Schools, Inc.)
- Frank Davidson (Casa Grande Elementary School District)
- Kent Scribner (Phoenix Union High School District)
- *John Baracy (Scottsdale Unified School District)
- *Sheila Breen (Grand Canyon Unified School District)
- *Roger Pfeuffer (Tucson Unified School District)
*-Left leadership team due to retirement or change in employment
In the fall 2008, ABEC hired a consultant,
Anabel Aportela, to help steer and manage the project. As an educational consultant, Ms. Aportela has focused on school finance and the link between finance and student performance. Formerly, she was a researcher with the Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE) and has worked at the Arizona Department of Education, having served as the Director of Research & Policy, responsible for the analysis and reporting of student assessment and school accountability results. Most recently, Ms. Aportela has been working on school finance adequacy projects in Wisconsin, Wyoming, Arkansas, North Dakota, and Arizona. She holds a B.A. in Public Policy, an M.A. in Education Policy from Stanford University, and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Education Leadership and Policy Analysis at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
To help move the initiative forward and to expand the dialogue, working groups were formed to give feedback, using the Guiding Principles & Framework as a foundation. Additional feedback was sought from various groups including "friendly critics," the ABEC board of directors, and members of the Arizona Association of School Business Officials. ABEC officers and the board of directors, along with ABEC staff, continue to provide management oversight as well as approve funding decisions and "next steps" for the initiative.
