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| EducationCounsel | |
|---|---|
| Name | EducationCounsel |
| Formation | 2011 |
| Headquarters | Washington, D.C. |
| Founders | Ted Mitchell; Ann O'Leary |
| Type | Consulting firm; policy advisory organization |
| Focus | K–12 reform; higher education policy; school finance; special education; charter schools; accountability |
EducationCounsel EducationCounsel is an American policy and strategy firm that provides legal, policy, and strategic advice on K–12 and higher education matters. It works with state agencies, school districts, foundations, nonprofit organizations, and philanthropic investors on issues such as school finance, accountability, charter policy, teacher workforce, and postsecondary access. The firm has been involved in litigation, rulemaking, and coalition-building related to federal statutes, state constitutions, and administrative regulations affecting public schooling.
EducationCounsel was founded in 2011 by former officials and advisers who had served in several administrations and institutions, including the U.S. Department of Education, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the U.S. Senate, the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and the Brookings Institution. Early work drew on precedents from litigation in Brown v. Board of Education, policy frameworks from the No Child Left Behind Act, and accountability models debated during the Race to the Top competition. The organization has advised stakeholders during rulemaking under the Every Student Succeeds Act and participated in state constitutional cases that referenced decisions such as Serrano v. Priest and Rodriguez v. San Antonio Independent School District.
EducationCounsel's engagements have intersected with advocacy groups and parties such as the National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers, the EdTrust, and charter supporters including the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. The firm has collaborated with think tanks like the American Enterprise Institute, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and the Thomas B. Fordham Institute on policy briefs and model legislation. Its evolution reflected shifting priorities after administrative transitions from the Obama administration to the Trump administration and later interactions with offices in the Biden administration.
EducationCounsel provides legal counsel, policy analysis, strategic planning, litigation support, and stakeholder engagement. It assists education agencies with compliance under statutes such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Higher Education Act of 1965, and regulatory processes related to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR). The firm supports school districts in matters involving cases like Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 and funding formulas influenced by rulings akin to Campaign for Fiscal Equity v. State of New York.
Practice areas include school finance, where EducationCounsel aids states responding to precedents such as Montoy v. State; charter law, advising on frameworks comparable to statutes in Arizona and Louisiana; accountability and assessment design reflecting debates during the Common Core State Standards Initiative; special education policy that engages with standards from the Supreme Court of the United States and administrative guidance from the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs; and postsecondary strategy linked to reforms in the Pell Grant program and accrediting processes observed in actions by the U.S. Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.
EducationCounsel has been involved in litigation and policy campaigns connected to state school finance disputes and federal rule challenges. It has participated in coordinated strategy for plaintiffs and defendants in cases recalling elements of McDuffy v. Secretary of the Executive Office of Education and Rose v. Council for Better Education. The firm provided assistance during implementation of ESSA plans submitted to the U.S. Department of Education and in negotiating consent decrees reminiscent of remedies following decisions like Brown v. Board of Education in local contexts.
The organization has worked with coalitions on charter authorization and oversight reminiscent of debates in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and on turnaround strategies informed by examples from Baltimore and Detroit. It has supported litigation teams and state attorneys general offices in matters touching disparate impact claims under statutes including those enforced by the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission analogues in education contexts.
Leadership has included former policymakers and education lawyers who previously served in institutions such as the U.S. Department of Education, the White House Domestic Policy Council, the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, and academic centers at Stanford University and University of California, Berkeley. Senior staff have moved between EducationCounsel and organizations including the American Institutes for Research, the Council of Chief State School Officers, and the National Governors Association.
The firm operates as a professional services organization with teams focused on litigation support, policy design, stakeholder engagement, and communications. It engages experts from law firms like Covington & Burling and Arnold & Porter, and consultants with backgrounds at the RAND Corporation and Urban Institute.
EducationCounsel has received funding and contracts from foundations and philanthropic organizations active in schooling and postsecondary policy, such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the Walton Family Foundation. It has worked alongside intermediary organizations including the Alliance for Excellent Education, the Education Trust, and the Southern Education Foundation. Contracts have also come from state education agencies, district governments like Los Angeles Unified School District, and entities connected to the National Governors Association.
Affiliations have included partnerships with research organizations such as the Brookings Institution, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, and advocacy groups like the National Parents Union and the State Education Boards Association.
EducationCounsel has faced critique from teacher unions including the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers over its work with charter advocates and certain state policy reforms. Critics have compared some of its strategies to approaches used by national organizations such as the American Legislative Exchange Council and progressive critics have invoked comparisons to litigation strategies seen in cases like Kelo v. City of New London in debates over local control.
Other controversies surround funding transparency, with commentators referencing funding models used by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Walton Family Foundation, and debates over the influence of philanthropic networks such as the Open Society Foundations and regional policy collaboratives like the Education Commission of the States. Legal scholars and civil rights organizations including the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund have questioned aspects of settlement negotiations and policy tradeoffs in state consent decrees and accountability waivers.
Category:Education policy organizations