Within the Education Portfolio, PCLB funds strategies believed to offer the greatest likelihood for success in creating and improving K-12 educational opportunities for all students:
Charter Schools
Combining operational freedoms and accountability, public charter schools provide a framework within which principals and teachers can create and run successful and innovative schools. PCLB has, therefore, long supported strong and growing charter school sectors in Connecticut and New York. In 2023, PCLB committed $10 million to Success Academy – a New York City based charter network that closes achievement gaps for nearly 20,000 students and growing – in support of its vision to redesign its K-12 academic curriculum and enhance students’ college and career readiness.
Advocacy
Thoughtfully crafted public policies enable great public schools to proliferate and thrive. PCLB supports organizations that advocate for effective education policies and practices, with a particular focus on ensuring that all schools are funded in a fair and sensible way. For example, the School and State Finance Project helps make unbiased information on school funding more readily available, to inform better policy decisions. And organizations like the Connecticut Charter Schools Association, Educators for Excellence, and FaithActs for Education support their members in calling for better funding systems and other critical education policies.
People Quality
Great teachers are essential to student success. PCLB supports programs that recruit, prepare, and retain highly effective schoolteachers. In an example of this work, PCLB funded the Central Connecticut State University and Connecticut Teacher Residency Program to develop and grow teacher residency programs. These current and future teacher residencies will help address staff shortages and build long-term teacher and school leader pipelines by removing financial barriers for aspiring educators – leading to higher retention and increased educator diversity.
Scholarship Fund
PCLB supports motivated students to access college choices and opportunities that they might not otherwise have had. For more information on PCLB’s Scholarship Fund, click here.