BUILDING BRIDGES 2017 ANNUAL REPORT For more than a decade, advocates working together through the PIE Network have proven they can build the political will that’s needed to improve educational opportunities for students across the country.

A founding belief of the Network is that the work of improving schools is too important to be compromised by political gamesmanship: finding solutions to improve schools requires leaders to reach across ideology and partisan divides. Every year, at every Network opportunity, we prove that spirit of cross-partisan problem solving is still alive in this country, even in what is the perhaps the most polarized political landscape in recent memory.

FOCUS 2 0 Through the Network, leading policy thinkers from across 17the ideological spectrum work regularly with advocacy leaders from the reddest to the bluest states—and everything in between—all striving to find the right solutions for their states. Network leaders stay connected through regular working meetings like the annual Summit and Executives’ Meeting, and in between these and other Network events, advocates stay “in the know” through a steady flow of resources.

In 2017, advocacy leaders—working in partnerships with policymakers, educators, and communities—made historic strides. Your partnership and support make that work possible. Thank you for your ongoing commitment to connecting and strengthening the work of over 70 advocacy organizations working in 33 states to improve outcomes for millions of students.

Tim Taylor Suzanne Kubach PIE Network Board Chair PIE Network Executive Director

1 - 2017 PIE Network Annual Report NETWORK GROWTH A NETWORK OF 2016 2017 72 orgs 72 orgs Following the growth of the 34 states 33 states sector and of leading CHANGE-MAKERS education advocacy 2015 2014 organizations. 49 orgs Bringing an urgent voice to the political process so 49 orgs 2013 31 states 31 states that state policy supports great schools and reinforces 2012 45 orgs excellence in the classroom. A network makes impact 2011 39 orgs 28 states 34 orgs 24 states 2010 23 states exponential. 2009 25 orgs 2008 18 orgs 18 states 2007 15 orgs 15 states 12 orgs 13 states 10 states

72 Advocacy Organizations 33 States & D.C. 15 National Partners

2 - 2017 PIE Network Annual Report 2017 NETWORK 72 advocacy organizations MEMBERS 33 states and D.C. 15 national partner organizations

STATE ADVOCACY ORGANIZATIONS A for League of Education Voters PERSPECTIVES & RESOURCES FROM NATIONAL A+ Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education PARTNERS A+ Education Partnership Mississippi First Center for American Progress Advance NorthCarolinaCAN Center on Reinventing Public Education AlignED NYCAN Data Quality Campaign Arkansas Learns Oklahoma Achieves Education Resource Strategies BEST-NC One Chance Illinois Foundation for Excellence in Education Campaign for School Equity Parent Revolution National Alliance for Public Charter Schools Chalkboard Project Parents Amplifying Voices in Education National Council on Teacher Quality Children’s Education Alliance of Missouri Partnership for Learning The Education Trust Colorado Succeeds PennCAN Thomas B. Fordham Institute ConnCAN Prichard Committee Connecticut Council for Ready Colorado NATIONAL OFFICES SUPPORTING STATE-BASED MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS DC School Reform Now RI-CAN 50CAN DelawareCAN Rodel Foundation of Delaware America Succeeds Democrats for Education Reform Colorado SouthCarolinaCAN Democrats for Education Reform Democrats for Education Reform District of Columbia Stand for Children Arizona Educators for Excellence Democrats for Education Reform Stand for Children Colorado Students for Education Reform Democrats for Education Reform Stand for Children Illinois Stand for Children EdAllies Stand for Children Educate Nebraska Stand for Children Louisiana Educate Stand for Children Massachusetts Educators for Excellence-Chicago Stand for Children Oklahoma Educators for Excellence-Connecticut Stand for Children Educators for Excellence-Los Angeles Stand for Children Educators for Excellence-Minnesota Stand for Children Texas Educators for Excellence-New York Stand for Children Washington EdVoice StudentsFirstNY Expect More Arizona Teach Plus - Massachusetts Foundation for Florida’s Future Tennessee SCORE Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education TennesseeCAN GeorgiaCAN Texas Aspires GO Public Schools The Education Trust-Midwest Idaho Business for Education The Education Trust-New York Innovate Public Schools The Education Trust-West Institute for Quality Education Thomas B. Fordham Institute - Ohio JerseyCAN

3 - 2017 PIE Network Annual Report ADVOCACY ADVANCES POLICY State policy (and politics) is the primary driver of education in this country. Advocacy organizations led by credible local leaders NETWORKS are the best infl uencers of state lawmakers. FUEL POLICY INNOVATION Networks accelerate the movement for school improvement and create effi ciencies that make other investments in education reform more effective.

CHAMPIONS NEED A NETWORK The PIE Network super- charges the education reform THEORY OF sector to maximize impact. Throughout the Network, ACTION champions fi nd connections, tools, and resources to work better, stronger, faster.

4 - 2017 PIE Network Annual Report 2017 NETWORK PROGRAM ACTION AND IMPACT

“Such a terrifi c gathering of folks. Excellent Summit Executives 294 leaders 43 leaders dialogue with actionable 42 orgs. opportunities. Perhaps 137 orgs. the most benefi cial opportunity was to meet STRENGTHENING folks in key places. Can’t Webinars ADVOCACY & say enough positive 239 leaders things about it.” 80 orgs. CONNECTING POLICY CHAMPIONS STRATEGY -M. Karega Rausch ON POLICY PRIORITIES VP of Research & Member Evaluation at NACSA Advocacy & Policy Survey AMPLIFYING 250+ campaign BUILDING details ADVOCACY & Comms CAPACITY POLICY Bootcamp & STRATEGY APPROACHES 29 leaders FOR ADVOCACY 21 orgs. Website 90,000+ Educator page views Game Changers Coalitions Blog “I found early on the Leadership Institute Voice Playbook Leadership 45 issues gave me better tools to engage my staff 33 leaders 650+ 27 orgs. Institute page views 32.3% open rate and better prepare myself to lead. The value of 17.3% above 23 leaders industry average every word is emphasized across many of the 23 orgs. lessons, and those lessons paid immediate dividends by improving my ability to negotiate with people and confl icts.”

- Alex Kelly, Vice President of Advocacy, Foundation for Excellence in Education

20175 - 2017PIE Network PIE Network Annual Annual Report Report “I have a stack of ESSA reports on my desk that’s 18 inches high. I don’t need another report. What PIE Network does is tell me which three reports are actually worth reading for my context.” “At the Educator Voice convening, I had the - Linda Noonan, Executive Director, MBAE opportunity to learn about the similarities and differences 49 orgs. EXPANDING 27 orgs. among the educator voice 28 states 19 states PROTECTING CHARTERS & CHOICE organizations, and I was worked on worked on able to then make new STANDARDS & Bolstered efforts this issue this issue relationships in order to ACCOUNTABILITY to advance and better understand the Maximized defend charters and choice landscape, make connections, opportunities and amplify all our efforts. and averted crisis around ESSA -Survey response INCREASING EDUCATOR VOICE Furthered 36 orgs. effectiveness of 23 states educator-focused worked on strategies this issue ADVANCING ADVOCACY & POLICY RESPONDING SUPPORTING PRIORITIES TO EMERGING ISSUES 47 orgs. STATE-LEVEL Helped advocates 27 states make their worked on POLICY AND ADVOCACY case these issues PRIORITIES IN 2017

62017 - 2017 PIE PIENetwork Network Annual Annual Report Report GAME-CHANGING NETWORK RESULTS AS EXPLAINED BY NETWORK LEADERS

RISING TO THE CHALLENGE TO WINNING MAJOR BATTLES FOR ENSURE RIGOROUS ACCOUNTABILITY EQUITABLE CHARTER FUNDING

When Congress, in an unprecedented move, rescinded Colorado advocates won a major battle for equitable ESSA regulations, advocates rose to the challenge of funding, making theirs the first state to provide charter ensuring states designed rigorous accountability systems. schools access to locally-raised tax revenue. Advocates More than 75 percent of PIE Network organizations credit a diverse, cross-ideological coalition for the engaged on accountability in 2018, making it the success. Colorado Succeeds, Democrats for Education Network’s top policy issue. Reform-Colorado, and READY Colorado led the fight, bringing a bipartisan approach to the issue. Consulting with Network Executive Directors on coalition plans Reinforcing trust among local advocacy organizations “Ultimately, our diverse coalition was able to move the state away from a school grading “There is a really solid amount of trust that we’ve system that operated on a ‘curve’ so we can begin been building over a decade. We can get mad at to provide parents with honest and transparent each other, disagree on policy, but at the end of information about their child’s school for the day we get it done for kids. It could have fallen purpose of improving equity and informing quality apart a thousand times, but trust is one of the big school choice.” reasons it didn’t. Being PIE Network members helps reinforce that trust.” - Carrie Griffin Monica, Executive Director, Stand for Children Louisiana - Scott Laband, President, Colorado Succeeds

7 - 2017 PIE Network Annual Report OVERHAULING A BROKEN TEACHER CHANGING “THE MOST REGRESSIVE LICENSURE SYSTEM FUNDING FORMULA” IN THE COUNTRY Advocates at EdAllies and Educators for Excellence- Minnesota partnered to overhaul the state’s broken After working on the issue for more than five years, teacher licensure system. The changes they put in place multiple PIE Network members in conjunction with will drive additional funds to expand alternative licensure additional Illinois advocates finally changed what was options, increase the pool of diverse teacher candidates, widely known as the most regressive funding formula in and simplify the process for out-of-state teachers. the country.

Strategizing, re-grouping, and maintaining focus Partnering and aligning efforts to make change possible “Educators from a variety of backgrounds will finally have clear, reasonable pathways to the “Rather than being a story of inside politics or a licenses they need and the classrooms that need small group of power brokers, the story of school them. Though we partnered with local partners funding reform in Illinois is one that is truly and educators to craft the details of our state’s focused on the story of organized people.” new licensure system, advocates from across the PIE Network helped us strategize and maintain - Acasia Wilson Feinberg, Executive Director, focus over the many years this overhaul required.” Educators for Excellence-Chicago

- Daniel Sellers, Executive Director, EdAllies

8 - 2017 PIE Network Annual Report PIE NETWORK CORE BELIEFS The Network is made up of diverse views and experiences from across ideological, ethnic, and socio-economic spectrums. A set of beliefs and a spirit of engagement bring us together and keep us together.

We agree with many people about the power of public education

Education is transformative We believe in the power of public education. We know it’s transformative and affects the trajectory of every child’s life.

Schools are the bedrock of communities We believe strong public schools matter. They are the bedrock of vibrant communities. They are essential to a prosperous economy. They attract business.

Education is the key to a prosperous economy We believe in equitable taxpayer support for public education that provides additional investments for students with unique needs.

What sets us apart are the ways we believe schools can and must improve

Kids need champions All kids need champions who work to ensure they get the education they deserve, especially the most underserved students.

Kids rise to the expectations we hold for them Kids rise to the level of expectations adults hold for them, so we set high standards for all kids.

Effective educators make a difference Educators have incredible impact and we won’t rest until all kids have high quality teachers in their classrooms and leaders for their schools.

Evidence is necessary for improvement It’s reasonable to expect continuous improvement in education and it’s responsible to ask for measurable evidence of performance and for swift action when it’s not delivered.

Families need options Families need options so they can find schools that work best for the unique needs of their kids.

10 - 2017 PIE Network Annual Report 2017 BOARD OF DIRECTORS* SERVING ADVOCATES LEAD CONNECTORS 2017 NETWORK FINANCIAL OVERVIEW

Policy Innovators in Education Network, LLC has received clean audit results each year of operation, including 2017. In supplement PIE Network, Inc. also participates in a performance review comparing the organization’s fi nancial records across more than 120 other Aimee Guidera Jonah Edelman alliance and advocacy organizations with revenue ranging between Jim Blew Mike Petrilli $1M-$10M and received healthy scores across all categories. In Senior Advisor CEO President Co-Founder & CEO 2017, the Network employed 11 full time employees. Fully audited 50CAN Data Quality Campaign Fordham Institute Stand for Children documents along with a copy of the performance review are available on request.

2017 Expenses: $1,935,102 2017 Budget %: Program: 84% Suzanne Kubach David Pickens Lillian Lowery Patricia Levesque Executive Director Management: 9% Executive Director Vice President CEO PIE Network Fundraising: 7% DC School Reform Now The Education Trust ExcelinEd THANK YOU 2017 FUNDING PARTNERS!

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Walton Family Foundation Chris Korsmo Nina Rees Jamie Woodson Rachel Canter Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation Executive Director CEO CEO CEO & Chairman Mississippi First League of Education Voters NAPCS SCORE Bloomberg Philanthropies The Bezalel Fund Carnegie Corporation of New York Joyce Foundation McKnight Foundation

Tim Taylor Cynthia Brown SPONSORS CEO & Co-Founder Senior Fellow College Board America Succeeds CAP

* Titles are based on positions held during 2017

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