Research for Action is excited to announce the appointment of David Lapp as its new Director of Policy Research. For the past seven years David has served as a Staff Attorney at the Education Law Center, where he represented dozens of families on a variety of education law issues and led a range of efforts to address inequity in education policy at the local, state and national levels. David brings particular expertise in school finance, student discipline, special education, school governance, and charter school law.
“By bringing an attorney of David’s stature to RFA, we begin an important new chapter in RFA’s policy research capacity,” said Executive Director Kate Shaw. “David’s strong track record of providing insightful, effective legal analysis on issues of central importance to Pennsylvania’s public schools will allow us to continue to strengthen our efforts to use rigorous research as a tool to ensure that all children have access to high quality education.”
David has devoted his career to education and child justice. Prior to obtaining his law degree from Temple University’s Beasley School of Law, David served as a middle and high school social studies teacher at two Philadelphia charter schools. He has also taught GED and Adult Basic Education in Philadelphia schools and libraries and previously coordinated programming at an emergency youth shelter.
“I am thrilled to be joining RFA,” said David. “I look forward to combining my knowledge of education law with the deep research expertise of RFA’s talented staff.”
David Lapp’s appointment at RFA begins on March 29th. For more information, please contact Kate Shaw at kshaw@researchforaction.org.