Jonathan Kaplan is a Senior Policy Advisor and Researcher at the Learning Policy Institute. His work focuses on school funding and policy issues as well as research to support multilingual learners. Jonathan co-leads LPI’s Equitable Resources and Access Team and has authored reports on California’s education finance system and improving outcomes for multilingual learners.

Before joining LPI, Kaplan conducted research on education and tax policy issues for 17 years as a Senior Policy Fellow with the California Budget & Policy Center. There, he authored various studies on educational policy and funding in California, including analyses of how state and federal policies impact public K-12 and postsecondary education and how California’s K-12 school funding compares to that in other states. Earlier in his career, Kaplan taught history and law for nearly a decade in California public high schools, where he supported the development of biliteracy for multilingual learners.

Kaplan received an MA in education and a Bilingual, Crosscultural, Language and Academic Development (BCLAD) teaching credential from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a BA in history from Yale University.