Our Mission

PEBC drives cutting-edge practices and informs and provokes the public to improve education for all.

Our vision for excellence in public education is critical both to the future of our nation’s children and to our nation’s economic security and ability to flourish as a democratic society.

• We envision a public education system that holds all students to high academic standards and supports them as they acquire both the critical thinking skills and specific knowledge necessary to compete and thrive in the new global economy.
• We envision a public education system that expects teachers to meet high professional standards and provides them with the time and resources necessary to deepen their understanding of their subjects, refine their instructional practices, and work with colleagues to develop a coherent curriculum for their students.
• We envision a private sector that demands excellence in public education and knows how to provide collaborative leadership and resources to help achieve excellence.

Our History

Upon the 1983 release of the Nation At Risk report by The National Commission on Excellence in Education, the Ford Foundation provided funds through the D.C.-based Public Education Network to nine communities across the nation to create local education funds (LEF). These non-profit organizations would operate apart from districts but would serve as “critical friends” to the education institutions and provide resources and expertise to the system in their reform agendas. The Public Education Coalition (PEC) in Denver was one of those newly-formed organizations. Its primary work was in quality teaching initiatives. In 1995, the PEC merged with the Colorado Business Alliance for Youth (founded in 1981), forming the Public Education & Business Coalition (PEBC). While both these organizations were dedicated to improving the quality of education for all students, the difference was that PEC focused on quality teaching, and the Alliance focused on preparing students for the workforce through student training activities. The merger consolidated staff and fundraising efforts; and brought a board together that would represent both the private industry sector (business executives) and the public industry sector (superintendents). Today, PEBC has grown from this small, local education fund to an organization with an unrivaled reputation for its professional development model, its publications, and the expertise of its staff. PEBC has worked with more than 17,000 principals and teachers in K-12 education, impacting over 1,000 schools, and one million students.