ERS Team

Principal Associate

Email Sam

Since joining ERS in 2020, Sam has supported several district projects that aim to increase internal transparency in district budgeting and financial planning processes, create a shared understanding of how resources are allocated, and plan for system-wide shifts in resource use. Specifically his work has included:

• Creating a financial sustainability model to support Los Angeles Unified School District's financial planning process
• Supporting Cleveland Metropolitan School District create an equitable and transparent process to integrate supplemental funding for specialty schools into the district's student-based budgeting process
• Conducting resource equity diagnostics for a cohort of Chief Equity Officers with the Alliance for Resource Equity and
• Facilitating a planning process for a cohort of districts in the Greater Phoenix area to implement strategic initiatives to reimagine the teaching job.

Sam is a career educator and prior to joining ERS, he served as the eighth grade Math and Algebra 1 teacher at Grizzlies Prep Charter School in Memphis, TN. Outside of the classroom, he also served as a SCORE Tennessee Educator Fellow, a member of the Tennessee State Board of Education’s Charter Application Review Committee, and a Rappaport Institute Public Finance Fellow. Sam earned a B.A. in Political Economy and Urban Studies from Rhodes College, a Certificate in Education Finance from Georgetown University, and an Ed.M in Education Policy and Management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

When he is not working, Sam enjoys exploring Boston and the New England region, traveling to each Major League Baseball stadium (17 so far!), and, as a lifelong southerner, eating the best barbeque he can get his hands on.