P-12

• College readiness
• Accountability
• Achievement gap
• Low-income students
• Minority students
• Federal policy
• School finance and spending
• School funding
• Educational standards
• NAEP

Ary Amerikaner is the vice president for P-12 policy, practice, and research at the Education Trust. Her work highlights inequities in opportunity and achievement for students of color and students from low-income families and identifies promising solutions. Most recently, she worked in the Obama administration as a deputy assistant secretary in the Department of Education where she developed and managed initiatives to promote equitable funding for high-need schools and equitable access to effective educators for students living in poverty and for students of color. She was also a key member of the leadership team responsible for implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015. Prior to that, she worked as a law clerk for a federal judge; and also on Capitol Hill as a legislative assistant for U.S. Congresswoman (now Sen.) Mazie Hirono. She started her career as a research assistant at the Urban Institute’s Education Policy Center, and published with the Center for American Progress. Amerikaner holds a juris doctor and a master’s degree in public policy from the University of California, Berkeley, and a bachelor’s degree in politics from Oberlin College.