Shari Berland

Shari Berland is a freelance consultant specializing in public education reform and charter school initiatives. Shari manages strategic planning, program evaluation, and policy analyses to support district redesign efforts in urban districts throughout the US. While at the New York City Department of Education, Shari helped to create more than 250 new schools for underserved youth; in Chicago, Shari worked with Chicago Public Schools to establish and refine the RFP process for new school development and has participated in more than 60 school review panels. Recent clients include the New Jersey Department of Education, the Indiana Charter School Board, SchoolWorks, the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, the Raza Development Fund, and New Schools for Chicago. Shari is a member of the Interim Advisory Committee at the Disney II Magnet school in Chicago, which she helped to create. Shari is also a member of the Christopher House Education Council that oversees the new Christopher House Charter School in Chicago. Shari holds a BA in Sociology from the University of California at Santa Cruz (1993) and an MPA from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (2000).