Tara Bergfeld is a Senior Education Finance Associate with WestEd’s Strategic Resource Allocation and Systems Planning Team. With over a decade of experience at the state and district levels, Bergfeld partners with states and districts to engage in data-driven decision-making, implementation planning, and continuous improvement. She provides technical assistance in the areas of school finance and resource allocation and specializes in state and district funding formulas, teacher compensation, school choice, and the alignment of state and district policies.
Prior to joining WestEd, Bergfeld published policy analyses for the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury, on behalf of the Tennessee General Assembly in areas including the state’s funding formula, educator compensation, school choice, and education finance transparency. Bergfeld’s district-level work included managing Metro Nashville Public School’s weighted student funding formula and school-based budgeting process.
Bergfeld’s policy analysis in Tennessee resulted in changes to state law and policies concerning teacher compensation and funding, charter school authorizer practices and funding, and educator licensure. She also served on the Tennessee Department of Education’s subcommittee for Fiscal Responsibility to advise on the creation of a new state-level weighted student funding formula.
Bergfeld earned her MS in information sciences from the University of Tennessee and her BA in history from Belmont University. She is also a Certified County Finance Officer through the University of Tennessee Institute for Public Service.