The Center for Public Education

What The Center for Public Education does

The Center for Public Education (CPE) is a research, publications, and professional development initiative operated under the National School Boards Association (NSBA), a non-profit membership association headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia. CPE's primary products are its data-driven research reports on public education trends and best practices, supplemented by the American School Board Journal (a monthly publication), the Magna Awards program, and the NSBA AI Smart Certification launched to credential school leaders on AI literacy. Its offerings are consumed almost entirely by the US K-12 public school governance market — local and state school boards, individual board members, and school attorneys — and are bundled into NSBA's broader membership, council (CUBE for urban boards, COSA for school attorneys), and academy programs.

CPE's business model is non-commercial in the traditional sense. It does not publish pricing, operates without a disclosed revenue line, and is funded through NSBA's membership dues, publication/advertising revenue from the American School Board Journal, paid academies (Howard University Governance and Strategic Leadership Academy, USC Rossier Academy for Excellence in Board Governance), and sales through the NSBA Store. Distribution is wholly domestic, delivered via the NSBA digital platform, the journal, the NSBA Store, and in-person training events. Go-to-market relies on NSBA's institutional relationships rather than a direct sales force.

The Center has no standalone technology stack or proprietary platform disclosed; its outputs are research publications, written guides, webinars, and credentialing programs. The CPE-branded web property currently returns a Page Not Found error, with the resource catalog now hosted under nsba.org/resources/cpe, indicating that CPE's digital identity has been consolidated into the parent NSBA site. There is no evidence of standalone headcount, management team, M&A activity, funding rounds, or independent financial reporting for CPE — it functions as a service line of NSBA rather than a discrete operating company.

Name

The Center for Public Education

Legal name

National School Boards Association

Website

https://centerforpubliceducation.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Short description

The Center for Public Education is a research, publications, and professional development initiative under the National School Boards Association, providing data-driven reports, the American School Board Journal, and governance training to US public school boards, board members, and school attorneys.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Education Governance Research

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Services (611), Administration of Education Programs (92311)

akta.pro primary industry

Elected School Boards & Governance Councils (EDADABAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

School District Central Administration (Superintendent & Cabinet Offices) (EDADABAF), Standards Alignment & Curriculum Mapping (State/National) (EDAJAFAD), State/Provincial Education Department Administration (BPAIABAJ)

Keywords

• Public education research
• School board governance
• Education policy analysis
• School board training
• Education leadership development

Headquarters

HQ city

Alexandria

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Center for Public Education is a research and knowledge center that produces data-driven reports, publications, and professional development resources on public education governance for school boards and education leaders in the United States. It operates under the National School Boards Association (NSBA) umbrella, distributing research reports, the American School Board Journal, the Magna Awards program, the NSBA AI Smart Certification, and access to School Board Leadership Academies delivered through partner universities.

Product overview

The Center for Public Education operates as a knowledge center within the National School Boards Association, offering research reports, publications, and professional development resources for school board members. The Center provides data-driven insights through its reports and is supported by complementary programs including the American School Board Journal (a monthly publication), Magna Awards (recognition program), and NSBA AI Smart Certification (AI training program). The broader NSBA portfolio also includes leadership academies and membership programs like CUBE for urban school boards.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Center for Public Education Reports Research reports and publications providing data-driven insights on public education trends, statistics, and best practices, targeted at school boards and educators in the United States.
• American School Board Journal Monthly publication covering school governance, leadership, policy, and legal issues for school board members.
• NSBA AI Smart Certification Certification program providing training and credentials for school leaders on artificial intelligence literacy and responsible AI use in education.
• Council of Urban Boards of Education (CUBE) Membership program supporting urban school boards through professional development, networking, and advocacy resources.
• School Board Leadership Academies Training programs including the Howard University Governance and Strategic Leadership Academy and the USC Rossier Academy for Excellence in Board Governance, delivered in partnership with universities.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• Howard UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to deliver the Howard University Governance and Strategic Leadership Academy, providing specialized training for school board members on governance and strategic leadership.
• University of Southern California Rossier School of EducationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to deliver the USC Rossier Academy for Excellence in Board Governance, offering professional development programs for school board leaders.
• National School Boards Association (Parent Organization)flagshipOthersCPE operates as a service and resource center under NSBA, which provides membership, advocacy, and organizational infrastructure for school boards nationwide.

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Learning Forward: Nonprofit professional association focused on professional learning and educator development, offering standards, training programs, and a peer-reviewed journal. Highly comparable in mission and delivery model to CPE's leadership academies and certification programs.
• Education Commission of the States (ECS): Interstate education policy compact providing research, tracking, and policy analysis to state policymakers and education leaders. ECS's research database and policy briefs are directly comparable to CPE's Center for Public Education Reports.
• National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE): Serves state-level education board members with policy resources, training, and advocacy — directly analogous to CPE's local-board focus. NASBE offers comparable publications, member briefings, and governance guidance, making it the most direct peer in board-level education governance.
• Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO): Membership organization for state superintendents and education agency leaders, providing policy research, leadership development, and national advocacy. CCSSO mirrors the structure of CPE/NSBA at the state level with comparable research-driven governance products.
• American Association of School Administrators (AASA): National professional association for school superintendents and district leaders, providing professional development, policy advocacy, and research — adjacent customer segment to CPE's school board audience but with overlapping training, conferences, and publications.

Broad incumbents

• ASCD (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development): Established education professional association delivering publications, professional development, and policy resources to educators and administrators. ASCD's publications (Educational Leadership) and PD offerings are directly comparable to ASBJ and CPE training programs.
• National School Boards Association (NSBA): Direct parent organization of CPE; the broadest incumbent in U.S. school board membership, advocacy, and training. NSBA's portfolio of journals, academies, and legal resources overlaps heavily with CPE's offerings and represents the closest benchmark for governance-focused education associations.

Emerging players

• Education Trust: Education policy and advocacy nonprofit producing research reports aimed at closing opportunity gaps. Comparable to CPE's research-report function and policy-driven publications, with a focus on equity-oriented governance insights for school boards and administrators.
• EdSurge: Independent news and research platform covering education innovation, with newsletters, research reports, and events for educators and administrators. Comparable as a research/news distribution channel into the school governance market CPE serves.
• National Policy Board for Educational Administration (NPBEA): Coalition of major education leadership organizations producing national standards and policy frameworks for school leadership. Comparable as a governance-standards body serving the same school leadership ecosystem CPE/NSBA targets.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/CenterforPublicEducation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Center for Public Education