Our Staff

Michael A. Rebell is executive director of the Center for Educational Equity (formerly 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 30 years, this legal strategy has proven successful in almost 60% 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 six books, including Courts and Kids: Pursuing Educational Equity Through the State Courts (2009) and Flunking Democracy: Schools, Courts and Civic Participation (2018), and several dozen articles on a wide range of education issues, including educational equity, education finance, civic preparation, testing, and the rights of disabled students. Mr. Rebell is a graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School.

Jessica R. Wolff is the policy and research director of the Center for Educational Equity (formerly Campaign for Educational Equity). She leads CEE’s policy research initiatives, develops and implements its public engagement projects, and directs its communications efforts. She is a coauthor of the recent reports, Securing the Future of New York’s Children: Final Steps Toward Truly Universal Pre-K (2014) and Making Prekindergarten Truly Universal in New York: A Statewide Roadmap (2013), as well as author or coauthor of two books and numerous articles and reports on education policy. From 2000-2005, she served as director of policy development of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE), where her work with the Sound Basic Education Task Force helped guide school-funding legislation in New York State. Wolff is a longtime board member and former board chair of the Children’s Museum of the Arts and parent of two NYC public school graduates. She has a B.A. from Brown University and an M.A. from New York University. 

Joe Rogersis the director of public engagement and a senior researcher with the Center for Educational Equity at Teachers College, Columbia University, where he leads CEE’s student- and parent-centered Know Your Educational Rights initiative, develops strategic relationships for policy reform, and conducts school-based research to assess students’ access to required learning opportunities. Previously, he served as Director of Policy and Civic Engagement with Education Voters of New York and as a Program Associate in Teaching and Learning at New Visions for Public Schools. After beginning a career in education as an AmeriCorps VISTA with Georgetown University's Volunteer and Public Service Center, he went on to launch and manage a Literacy*AmeriCorps program for a coalition of community-based adult, child, and family literacy service providers in Washington, D.C. Joe 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.

Paloma Garcia is the program associate at the Center for Educational Equity (formerly Campaign for Educational Equity) at Teachers College, Columbia University. She works across a number of CEE's focus areas providing communication, research, and public engagement support. Paloma is also working towards earning her M.A in Sociology and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, and received her bachelor's degree in Psychology and English from Santa Clara University.