Heinz Alumna Sara Cortez Advises State Lawmakers on Education Policy
By Jennifer Monahan
In the three years she spent as a kindergarten teacher in Detroit, Michigan, Sara Cortez (MSPPM ‘17) saw how a child’s first years in school can influence their later success.
“Early education is a stepping stone for the rest of a student’s life,” Cortez explained. “That was something that really spoke to me from a policy standpoint, to make sure our education systems are working for students.”
Today, Cortez works to improve the lives of young students in a different way. As principal fiscal and policy analyst for the California Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO), Cortez helps lawmakers decide which policies are most effective to help the children of California. For the last seven years, she has served as one of the LAO’s experts on education. Her current areas of responsibility include preschool, school nutrition programs, special education, and student achievement.
Diving into Budget Process Details
The non-partisan LAO provides analysis and advice to the California Legislature on fiscal and policy issues, including California’s annual budget. Analyzing the budget for the fifth-largest economy in the world is no small undertaking. Cortez and her fellow analysts dig into the details, determining how much proposals will cost and whether they’re feasible, then offering specific recommendations.
Cortez has a significant opportunity to affect change as lawmakers develop the budget. Each year, she evaluates budget items submitted by the governor. She identifies whether a budget proposal would effectively support policy priorities and provides guidance to legislators that helps them come to a decision on whether to approve, modify or deny budget requests.
Once that process is complete, Cortez turns her attention to analyzing subsequent policy implementation and outcomes.
“I like to think of it as being the eyes and ears for members of the legislature to determine whether programs are working as intended and ways programs could be improved,” Cortez said. “In the past, I’ve raised concerns about feasibility issues and the likelihood of success.”
Sara Cortez provides a report to the California State Legislature.
Her work is an ongoing conversation with legislators throughout the year. She has testified before members of the state legislature on issues ranging from school nutrition and education finance to accountability. Once legislators set guidelines for specific programs or initiatives, Cortez works to ensure they’re followed. If a program or initiative isn’t working as intended, legislators and staff revisit other options and adjust strategies to better align with the goals.
Broad Scope and Direct Impact
Her ability to make an impact on people’s lives through the interplay of policy and budget is one of the reasons Cortez loves her work. During her time at LAO, Cortez has had the opportunity to analyze policy related to universal preschool for four-year-olds, an idea about which she’s passionate.
“This issue is really about educational opportunities for students,” Cortez said.
Cortez’s work in state government is an ideal fit for her, she explained, because it allows her to affect broad change at the policy level and still be involved closely enough to see the impact on the lives of California residents.
In 2024, Cortez advised the California State Legislature on PreK-12 educational funding issues and provided oversight on programs that had a combined budget of approximately $17 billion. She also takes advantage of periodic opportunities to visit schools and classrooms, where she can speak directly to students, teachers and administrators and see the effects of her work.
How Heinz College Helped Build a Foundation for Policy Impact
Cortez was well-prepared to take on the tasks of legislative budget analysis because of her experience in Heinz College’s Master of Science in Public Policy and Management program. During her time at Heinz, Cortez spent one year on Carnegie Mellon University’s Pittsburgh campus and her second year studying and working in Washington, D.C. She was familiar with the master’s program through her undergraduate participation in Heinz College’s PPIA Junior Summer Institute, where she earned a tuition scholarship to graduate school.
The quantitative and data analysis skills Cortez learned at Heinz College have served her well in her day-to-day work at the LAO. She also draws often on skills she learned in her management science course and said classes on labor economics and federal budget policy were among her favorites.
“I was working at the Office of Management and Budget, so I was seeing the federal budget in action and learning about it in class at the same time,” Cortez said.
“I didn’t enter graduate school thinking I wanted to work for a budget office,” Cortez said, but budget office internships at both the state and federal level during her time at Heinz College sparked a passion for the work. “I absolutely loved those rotations, and I realized how important the budget aspect is to policy. Policies don’t happen unless they’re funded.”
Cortez appreciated the Heinz College network of alumni, faculty, and staff who have provided support and mentoring throughout her career. She has tried to do the same for current and prospective students by participating in panel discussions and one-on-one conversations.
Cortez’s experience at LAO is a reminder that spreadsheets and data sets can be effective tools to fight for policies that support educational access and improved opportunities for student success. She encourages current students to consider work in state and local government.
“The impact is so high here, and we need good people, good thinkers, hard workers,” Cortez said. “I think about the impact I was able to have even in my first year working at LAO. You can really hit the ground running.”