Cities that have seen the greatest gains for students—like New Orleans, Indianapolis, Denver, and Camden—have transformed from top-down school systems into more open, innovative systems of schools. The through line is a commitment to three core conditions for success: autonomy for educators, accountability for student results, and equitable access for every family.
In an era of declining enrollment, low institutional trust, AI-powered innovation, and proliferating choice options, cities that embrace this approach will be better positioned to navigate what’s coming. The question is how to help more of them get there.
Ed City Labs is spending the next several months in conversation with leaders across the country — asking questions, testing ideas, and finding thought partners before designing initiatives we hope to launch later this year.
Three questions are shaping that work:
How do we inspire more cities to pursue a system of schools approach from within, rather than as a result of outside pressure? What incentives work, what policy levers travel, and how can civic and philanthropic leaders help district leaders choose this path themselves?
How do we build the local and regional funder infrastructure this work needs to scale? Local and regional funders are often the anchors of city-based reform but frequently work in isolation. Better connections between them could unlock more cities, more capital, and more durable local ecosystems.
How do we identify and support the next generation of school system leaders who are ready when the window for change opens? The cities that have made the greatest gains did so because the right leaders were in place at the right moment. Who will build off the legacy of the catalytic leaders from Denver, Camden, Indianapolis, and New Orleans? And how can we help ensure they have real opportunities to lead when those moments arrive?
Ethan Gray is the founder of Ed City Labs. Before launching Ed City Labs, he was a founding partner at City Fund, where he led strategy and grantmaking in Denver, Albuquerque, and several other cities from 2018 to 2026. Before City Fund, he founded Education Cities, a national network of 33 city-based civic and funding organizations in 25 cities dedicated to creating the conditions for great public schools to flourish. Earlier in his career, he served as Vice President of The Mind Trust in Indianapolis, where he helped develop the Creating Opportunity Schools plan for transforming Indianapolis Public Schools.
Ed City Labs is made possible through the generous support of an incubation grant from City Fund.
We are actively seeking partnership and feedback from educators, civic leaders, and funders interested in helping advance this work in more communities across the country.