Valentina Payne

Valentina Payne joined Bellwether Education Partners in 2021 as chief of staff to Andy Rotherham on the External Relations team. Prior to Bellwether, she spent seven years at brightbeam, where she most recently served as its chief growth officer, overseeing operations, finance, fundraising, and strategic growth of the organization.

Post's By Valentina Payne

brightbeam

Women Are Disrespected Every Day in America, But That Doesn't Mean I'll Stop Fighting It

This week, Representative Ted Yoho called his colleague in the House of Representatives, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a “fucking bitch.” So not only have we completely thrown out the rule...

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ESSA

Will States Hold Their Schools Accountable Under ESSA? A New Report Sheds Some Light

The ever-reliable edu-wonks over at Bellwether Education Partners, along with the trusted folks at Collaborative for Student Success (CSS), have put together a comprehensive review of the 17 school...

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School Choice

A Letter to Betsy DeVos About My Student Loans

Dear Secretary DeVos, You and I have a lot in common. We're both from the great state of Michigan and have the same Michigan accent. We both have careers in education reform. In fact, we've both...

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Elections

I’m Not Worried About What President Trump Will Do For Education. I’m Terrified.

It’s barely been a day since the American people and political system voted Donald Trump into the White House. Since then, I’ve seen more “what does a Trump presidency mean for education” pieces....

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ESSA

Finally, the Candidates Discuss Education Policy

Well, folks, we’re 288 days into the worst election year of all time but we’ve finally got some answers on education that will knock anything else going on out of the news cycle. Valerie Strauss,...

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Charter Schools

Here's to Making Charter Schools Better in Michigan

Being from Michigan, generally, is a wonderful thing. Great people, Great Lakes, you get the picture. When it’s not so wonderful, however, is when you have to explain to other Michiganders that, in...

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