Lawrence O. Picus

Lawrence O. Picus is the Richard T. Cooper and Mary Catherine Cooper Chair in Public School Administration, professor of education finance and policy, and associate dean for faculty affairs in the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California. He was also past president of the Association for Education Finance and Policy and has served on the board of directors for EdSource. Picus is an expert in public school finance, focusing on equity, adequacy, and resource allocation. He co-developed the widely used Evidence-Based method for estimating the funding resources needed to ensure all students have the opportunity to meet performance standards. He has consulted extensively on school finance issues in more than 20 states. Picus earned his BA in economics from Reed College, an MA in social science from the University of Chicago, and a PhD in public policy analysis from the RAND Graduate School.

updated 2025