Fellows
Greg Forster, Ph.D.
Senior Fellow
greg@edchoice.org
Greg Forster, Ph.D., is a senior fellow with the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice. He conducts research and writes on school choice policy. Forster has conducted empirical studies on the impact of school choice programs in Milwaukee, Ohio, Florida, and Texas, as well as national empirical studies comparing public and private schools in terms of working conditions for teachers; racial segregation; and teacher and staff misconduct. He also has conducted empirical studies of other education topics, including charter schools, accountability testing, graduation rates, student demographics, and special education.
Forster’s research has appeared in the peer-reviewed publications Teachers College Record and Education Working Paper Archive, and his articles on education policy have appeared in the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Education Next, the Chronicle of Higher Education, and numerous other publications. He is co-author of the book "Education Myths: What Special-Interest Groups Want You to Believe about Our Schools – and Why It Isn’t So," from Rowman & Littlefield.
Brian Gottlob, M.P.A.
Senior Fellow
Principal, PolEcon Research | bgottlob@poleconresearch.com
Brian Gottlob is the Principal of PolEcon Research. For more than 17 years, Gottlob has analyzed economic, demographic, labor market industry, and public policy trends for private sector, government, and non-profit organizations. He has extensive experience in developing econometric models and has completed studies on a range of economic, tax policy, energy, education, and health care issues in the states of New Hampshire, Virginia, Ohio, New Mexico, New York, Texas, Oregon, Michigan, Georgia, Mississippi, West Virginia, and Illinois.
Gottlob has been an instructor at the Whittemore School of Business and Economics at the University of New Hampshire, a member of the Advisory Board of the New England Economic Partnership (NEEP), and a member of the National Association of Business Economics. Prior to founding PolEcon, Gottlob was a Vice President for Fiscal and Economic Policy at the Business and Industry Association of New Hampshire. He has an undergraduate degree in economics from the State University of New York and a graduate degree in public policy analysis from the University of New Hampshire.
Matthew Ladner, Ph.D.
Senior Fellow
Senior Advisor of Policy and Research, Foundation for Excellence in Education | matthew@excelined.org
Dr. Matthew Ladner is the Senior Advisor of Policy and Research for the Foundation for Excellence in Education and co-author of the American Legislative Exchange Council's "Report Card on American Education: Ranking State K-12 Performance, Progress, and Reform."
Previously, Dr. Ladner served as Vice President of Research and Goldwater Institute. Prior to joining Goldwater, Ladner was Director of State Projects at the Alliance for School Choice, where he provided support and resources for state-based school choice efforts. He has provided invited testimony to Congress, a number of state legislatures, and the United States Commission on Civil Rights.
Ladner has written numerous studies on school choice, charter schools, and special educaton reform, and has published articles in Education Next, the Catholic Education: A Journal of Inquiry and Practice, and the British Journal of Political Science. He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and received both a master's and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Houston.
Ladner blogs on education reform, movies, and random pop culture topics at Jay P. Greene's Blog. He lives in Phoenix with his wife, Anne, and their three children Benjamin, Jacob, and Abigail.
Benjamin Scafidi, Ph.D.
Senior Fellow
Associate Professor, Georgia College & State University | ben.scafidi@gcsu.edu
Ben Scafidi is Associate Professor of Economics and Director of the Economics of Education Policy Center at Georgia College & State University. He is also the director of the Center for an Educated Georgia.
Dr. Scafidi's research has focused on education and urban policy. He is chair of the state of Georgia’s Charter Commission and a member of the state’s Charter Advisory Committee. Previously, Scafidi served as the Education Policy Advisor to Gov. Sonny Perdue, on the staff of both of Gov. Roy Barnes’ Education Reform Study Commissions, and as an expert witness for the state of Georgia in its school funding litigation.
Scafidi received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Virginia and his bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Notre Dame. Ben and Lori Scafidi and their four children reside in Milledgeville, Georgia.
Patrick R. Gibbons
Fellow
Principal, Gibbons Consulting | patrick@patrickrgibbons.com
Patrick Gibbons is the Principal of Gibbons Consulting, where he provides research and consulting services for local policymakers and business leaders in Nevada. Patrick is also the CEO of CareAbout.it, a Las Vegas startup company which aims to analyze charitable giving in the United States.
Prior to starting his own research and consulting company, Patrick served as the Education Policy Analyst for the Nevada Policy Research Institute. Patrick also taught high school history and special education in Virginia.
Patrick has conducted numerous radio and television interviews, testified before the Nevada state legislature and has written over 100 published articles. His articles have appeared in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Las Vegas Sun, Reno Gazette Journal, School Reform News, Tech Crunch and more. In 2011, Patrick created the database for the Friedman Foundation’s "The ABCs of School Choice."
Patrick holds bachelor degrees in Political Science and History from The Pennsylvania State University and a M.A. in Political Science from the University of Oklahoma. Patrick lives in Las Vegas, Nevada.
