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When people think about improving education, they often picture classrooms, teachers, or curriculum. Those investments matter tremendously. But if we are serious about creating lasting change for Rochester’s children, we must also invest in something less visible: the infrastructure that makes quality schools accessible, sustainable, and easier for families to navigate.
That is why Rochester Education and Development for Youth, the education nonprofit that I lead, has invested $150,000 in EDceptional’s GoodSchoolsRoc, a unified application portal.
At first glance, a centralized enrollment platform may seem like a technical solution. In reality, it is an investment in families. Every year, parents across Rochester spend countless hours researching schools, tracking application deadlines, and trying to understand the options available to their children. A single, streamlined application system removes unnecessary barriers and gives families a clearer path to making one of the most important decisions they will ever make. Families deserve systems that work for them, not systems they have to work around.
This investment is also about something equally important: protecting resources for students. Public charter schools in Rochester continue to educate thousands of children while operating with significant financial constraints. Every dollar spent on administrative systems is a dollar that cannot be invested in classrooms, student supports, educators, or enrichment opportunities.
Through our investment, READY is covering the costs that participating charter schools would otherwise pay to access GoodSchoolsRoc’s application, lottery, and enrollment platform for one year. That means schools can direct more of their limited resources toward the work that matters most: educating children.
This is not about choosing one sector over another.
At READY, we believe that Rochester’s children deserve access to quality public schools wherever they are. That includes district schools and charter schools alike. Our work has never been about creating competition between systems. It has always been about strengthening Rochester’s public education ecosystem so that more students have access to schools where they can thrive. When we invest in educators, families, school leaders, or the infrastructure that supports schools, we are investing in children.
GoodSchoolsRoc is one example of that philosophy in action. Since 2023, READY has helped attract more than $6.9 million in national philanthropic investmentinto Rochester’s public education ecosystem. Nearly $2 million has been invested directly into 10 schools, impacting more than 5,000 students. Those investments have supported school improvement, educator
development, leadership training, family engagement, and innovative solutions designed to strengthen educational opportunities throughout our city.
Our investment strategy has always been broader than funding schools alone.
We invest in the conditions that allow quality schools to succeed. That means supporting educators so they can grow professionally. It means equipping families with information and advocacy tools to make informed decisions. It means helping promising schools improve, and successful schools expand. And sometimes it means funding the behind-the-scenes systems that allow schools to spend more of their budgets on students rather than on administrative costs.
These investments may not always make headlines, but they make a difference.
Every child deserves a quality education, and every family deserves the ability to find the school that best meets their child’s needs. Those goals cannot be achieved solely in classrooms. They require thoughtful investments in the people, partnerships, and infrastructure that make great schools accessible and sustainable.
At READY, we often say that improving educational outcomes requires strengthening the entire ecosystem. That means asking not only what happens inside school buildings, but also what happens around them. Are families equipped with the information they need? Are educators supported? Are school leaders able to focus on instruction rather than unnecessary administrative burdens? Are community partners working together to remove obstacles rather than create them?
These are the questions that shape our work every day. Our vision is ambitious. By 2034, READY aims to increase the number of Rochester students attending quality public schools from approximately 3,000 to 10,000. Achieving that goal will require collaboration across sectors, targeted investments, and a willingness to solve problems that are often invisible to the public but essential to student success. The future of education in Rochester will not be built by any one organization, school, or strategy alone.
It will be built by investing in the entire ecosystem that supports children, from classrooms to community partnerships, from educators to families, and yes, even the infrastructure that makes opportunity easier to access.
Because every barrier we remove is another opportunity created for a child. And that is an investment worth making.
Shanai Lee is chief executive officer of Rochester Education and Development for Youth (READY).
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