Campaign Staff
Michael A. Rebell is Executive Director of the Campaign for Educational Equity and Professor of Law and Educational Practice at Teachers College. Previously, Mr. Rebell co-founded and served as Executive Director of The Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE), which won a major constitutional ruling on behalf of New York City public schools. Mr. Rebell is one of the nation's foremost authorities on the education adequacy movement in the United States and has pioneered the legal theory and strategy of educational adequacy. In the last 15 years, this legal strategy has proven successful in almost 75% of the cases challenging a state's failure to provide students with a sound, basic education. Mr. Rebell has also litigated numerous class-action lawsuits especially on behalf of students with disabilities, including the landmark New York State case, Jose P. v. Mills. He has written two books (Equity and Education and Education Policymaking and the Courts) and several dozen articles on a wide range of education issues, including educational equity, education finance, testing, rights of disabled students and dropout prevention. Mr. Rebell is a graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School.
Jessica R. Wolff is the Policy Director of the Campaign and has long been involved in public education as an advocate, writer, educator, and active public school parent. She is co-author with Michael A. Rebell of Moving Every Child Ahead: Beyond NCLB Hype to Meaningful Educational Opportunity (Teachers College Press, 2008). From 2000-2005, she served as director of policy development of the Campaign for Fiscal (CFE), where she played a critical role in bringing the public voice into policy development. Her work with the Sound Basic Education Task Force on Accountability helped guide recent school funding legislation in l. Prior to CFE, she wrote widely on public school issues for the Public Education Association and, for many years, authored a monthly column on public education for the award-winning online news journal Gotham Gazette. Ms. Wolff has a B.A. from Brown University and a Master's Degree from New York University.
Joseph R. Rogers, Jr., a Senior Researcher for the Safeguarding Sound Basic Education Project, is the founder and facilitator of Total Equity Now, a Harlem-focused nonprofit organization coordinating community engagement, policy research and advocacy, and youth leadership programs. Previously, he served as director of policy and civic engagement with Education Voters of New York, a consultant to several New York City-based organizations, including NYC Mission Society, and as a program associate in Teaching and Learning at New Visions for Public Schools. After starting a career in education as an AmeriCorps VISTA with Georgetown University's Volunteer and Public Service Center, he launched and managed a Literacy*AmeriCorps program for D.C. LEARNs, a coalition of community-based adult, child, and family literacy service providers in the nation's capital. Rogers is a former co-chair of Manhattan Community Board 9's Youth, Education and Libraries Committee. He holds a master's degree in education leadership, policy, and politics from Teachers College, Columbia University, and a bachelor's degree in psychology from The George Washington University. In 2010, the George Washington University Black Alumni Association awarded him its highest honor for his distinguished service and activism toward improving educational opportunities for children.
Susanna Hamilton is the Policy Associate for the Campaign. She graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University in 2012 with a B.A. in History. Susanna has interned for the San Francisco District Attorney's Office and the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia. She has also volunteered as a caseworker for Centurion Ministries, a nonprofit in Princeton, NJ, dedicated to reinvestigating and freeing innocent inmates. Susanna is currently working at the Campaign as a Princeton AlumniCorps Project 55 Fellow.
