Allan Odden is Professor Emeritus of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; he also is Co-Director of the Strategic Management of Human Capital (SMHC) in public education and Co-Director of the Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE). CPRE is a consortium of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Pennsylvania, Harvard, Michigan, Northwestern, Teachers College-Columbia University, and Stanford Universities. He is an international expert on education finance, effective resource allocation and use, resource reallocation, the strategic management of human capital in education, teacher compensation, school-based management, and educational… policy development and implementation. He consults regularly with states and districts on these issues.His most recent books include School Finance: A Policy Perspective (McGraw Hill, 2008, 4th edition), with Lawrence O. Picus and How to Create World Class Teacher Compensation (Freeload Press, 2007) with Marc Wallace. Other books include Paying Teachers for What They Know and Do: New and Smarter Compensation Strategies to Improve Schools (Corwin Press, 1997, 2 nd Edition, 2002) with Carolyn Kelley; Reallocating Resources: How to Boost Student Achievement Without Spending More (Corwin, 2001) with Sarah Archibald; School Finance: A Policy Perspective (McGraw Hill, 1992, 2 nd Edition, 2000, 3 rd Edition 2004) co-authored with Lawrence Picus; School-Based Finance (Corwin Press, 1999) , edited with Margaret Goertz; Financing Schools for High Performance: Strategies for Improving the Use of Educational Resources (Jossey Bass, 1998) with Carolyn Busch; Educational Leadership for America's Schools (McGraw Hill, 1995); Rethinking School Finance: An Agenda for the 1990s (Jossey-Bass, 1992); Education Policy Implementation (State University of New York Press, 1991); and School Finance and School Improvement: Linkages for the 1980s (Ballinger, 1983).He was a mathematics teacher and curriculum developer in New York City's East Harlem for five years. He received his PhD and MA degrees from Columbia University, a Masters of Divinity from the Union Theological Seminary and his BS in aerospace engineering from Brown University.
Lawrence O. Picus is professor of education financenbsp;and policy at the Rossier School of Education atnbsp;the University of Southern California. His currentnbsp;research interests focus on adequacy and equity innbsp;school finance as well as efficiency and productivitynbsp;in the provision of educational programs fornbsp;K-12 school children. Picus is past president ofnbsp;the Association for Education Finance and Policynbsp;(AEFP) and is the president of the board of EdSource,nbsp;a California-based education research organization.nbsp;Picus is the coauthor of School Finance: A Policynbsp;Perspective (5th edition) with Allan R. Odden. He hasnbsp;authored, coauthored, or edited several… other booksnbsp;including Where Does the Money Go? Resource Allocation in Elementary and Secondary Schoolsnbsp;(1995), In Search of More Productive Schools: Anbsp;Guide to Resource Allocation in Education (2001),nbsp;Developing Community-Empowered Schoolsnbsp;(2001) coauthored with Mary Ann Burke, andnbsp;Principles of School Business Administration (1995)nbsp;with R. Craig Wood, David Thompson, and Don I.nbsp;Tharpe. He has also published numerous articles innbsp;professional journals.nbsp;Picus studies how educational resources are allocatednbsp;and used in schools across the United States.nbsp;He has conducted studies of the impact of incentives on school district performance. Picus maintainsnbsp;close contact with the superintendents andnbsp;chief business officers of school districts throughoutnbsp;California and the nation and is a member of anbsp;number of professional organizations dedicated tonbsp;improving school district management. He is a formernbsp;member of the Editorial Advisory Committeenbsp;of the Association of School Business Officialsnbsp;International, and he has served as a consultantnbsp;to the National Education Association, Americannbsp;Federation of Teachers, the National Center fornbsp;Education Statistics, and WestEd. He served as thenbsp;principal consultant for the design of school fundingnbsp;systems in Wyoming and Arkansas and hasnbsp;conducted equity, adequacy, and resource allocationnbsp;studies in Arizona, Arkansas, Washington, Vermont,nbsp;Oregon, South Carolina, Louisiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Montana, New Jersey, Nebraska, Texas,nbsp;North Dakota, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Maine.nbsp;Picus holds a bachelor's degree in economics fromnbsp;Reed College and master's degrees from the Universitynbsp;of Chicago and the Pardee RAND Graduate School.nbsp;He received his PhD in public policy analysis fromnbsp;the Pardee RAND Graduate School.nbsp;