Georgia on my mind…

After years dedicated to helping urban school systems organize talent, time and money, Education Resource Strategies, Inc. (ERS) is taking their expertise to the next level, literally…partnering with the Georgia Department of Education (GDOE). While ERS has worked with some of the largest urban school systems in the United States, this project represents the first time we will be working with a cohort of districts in concert with their State Education Agency. The GDOE is conducting an intensive review of resource allocation at the state and district levels. As part of that initiative, and with help from federal Race to the Top grant funding, GDOE has brought on ERS not only to assist districts maximize resources, but also to build the capability within the GDOE to:

• Understand and correct areas where state practice, policies or legislation may currently “get in the way” of effective resource use
• Provide participating districts with guidance to reallocate their resources for dramatically improved student performance by sharing successes and conducting similar reviews in the future
• Rethink the data collected at the state level to reinforce transformational resource use and to make it easier to conduct similar resource allocation reviews at scale, across all Georgia districts

As part of the partnership between ERS and the GDOE, state actors will be incorporated directly into the district analysis, reducing cost and providing better knowledge transfer. The project is expected to last two years.