See Budget Hold’em in Action
As hundreds of district leaders have found, Budget Hold’em is a vehicle for exploring strategies you might not otherwise consider. It enables teams to tackle their most pressing challenges and center students in their decision-making. It’s a way to confidently assess big decisions—and have fun with colleagues while doing it.
Hold’em: How Districts Get Things Done
Districts across the country have used Budget Hold’em to target critical roadblocks and think through investments and tradeoffs to overcome them. Here are just a few examples of Hold’em games that led to big gains.
Expanding Learning Time in Citizen Schools
The nonprofit used Hold’em to explore community partnerships, ELA investments, and Title I flexibilities to transform student experiences.
Rethinking Student Supports in Connecticut
More than 70 CT leaders came together to explore ways to support early intervention, adjust teacher compensation models, and improve student outcomes.
If there is any moment at which we could seriously have these kinds of discussions—it’s now. You can’t keep doing more with less. Now is the time to look at new ideas, in an era of budget shortfalls.
—Alicia Roy, former Superintendent of New Fairfield Public Schools
Negotiating Innovative Contracts in Cleveland
The Cleveland team played Hold’em to unite district leaders and the teachers union around a shared vision for the teaching experience.
Implementing Student-Based Budgeting in Shelby County
The Tennessee school district used Hold’em to pilot new approaches to budget decision-making, staffing structures, and collaborative planning.
Get the Most Out of Budget Hold’em
Budget Hold’em helps leaders turn ideas into action. Play the game alongside an ERS budget expert in an interactive workshop or take a deck back to your team for a game. No matter how you play, you’ll walk away with game-changing strategies for your district.