About Our Members

What Is a Local Education Fund?
Local education funds (LEFs) were established in 1983 with funding from the Ford Foundation to improve public education for low-income and minority children living in urban areas. LEFs are nonprofit organizations that work with, but are independent of, their local school systems.

LEFs advocate for involvement in public education by all segments of the public. They work for accountability and achievement of high standards by all involved with public education, and they advocate for significant improvement in public schools. LEFs also generate resources for public education by facilitating investment from local governments, businesses, and philanthropic foundations.

LEFs are local organizations.
The LEF mission is the improvement of public education within a particular geographic area. LEFs have a long-term relationship with the schools and districts within that area, and are highly influenced by their local context, constantly assessing the political landscape, then adapting and strategizing within the opportunities and limits that it offers. Because they are locally-based, LEFs are agents of change through their ability to adapt innovation to the needs and contours of the local setting. LEFs foster the sustainability of reforms through their commitment to local communities.

LEFs are affiliated with the national Public Education Network.
PEN is a network of 88 local education funds around the country. This national network allows organizations to step out of their local context and broaden perspective through a cross-fertilization of ideas from other experiences nationally. This offers new models and standards that they can then adapt to their local setting.

LEFs focus their work on a single issue: public education.
LEFs’ purpose is to stimulate change that improves public education, particularly in low-income communities. LEFs do this through building civic capacity and school and district capacity to implement reforms.

LEFs work with an array of constituencies but their primary constituent is the district.
Unlike many education intermediaries, LEFs have relationships at multiple levels and multiple sites across school districts. They relate to the central office and school board members as well as local principals and teachers.

LEFs also relate to constituencies external to the district. For example, many LEFs work closely with the business community and provide a vehicle through which businesses can channel resources and expertise to the school district. Business leaders have been involved in the formation of many LEFs, and have significant membership on LEF boards.

LEFs also focus on engaging parents and other community groups in the work of the school district. LEFs often link the resources and expertise of universities to social service agencies, and local foundations to the school district. Finally, some LEFs attempt to convene all of these disparate constituencies for the betterment of public education.

LEFs have a complex relationship with their key constituent–school districts.
LEF relationships within a district are complex because at times the LEF mission to improve student achievement requires critiquing the district and schools. At the same time, their existence depends on their relationship with the district. LEFs vary in how they manage these complex relationships; some are closely allied with the district, while others operate with more independence and take greater risks with their criticisms.