Who is behind this

LeadershipThe people accountable for what this site publishes

K12 Transparency is a data service and performance audit service for K-12 school districts. We use technology to analyze large volumes of public financial data quickly, and our team brings decades of executive experience in finance, auditing, and operations to what that data shows.

What we do

Analyze at scale

Twenty years of federal filings across every U.S. public school district, joined with enrollment, poverty, staffing, and outcomes, so a question that would take an analyst weeks is answered in seconds.

Find savings

Performance audit work that identifies where spending diverges from peer districts, from the district's own history, and from what enrollment supports — with the source records attached.

Publish the record

Every district gets a free public page and a transparency grade from a published rubric, because the same data that finds savings also shows the public where the money went.

Dr. Dustin Knutson

Dr. Dustin Knutson

Managing Partner | Consultant

Dr. Knutson holds a Doctorate in Strategic Leadership and has spent his career turning analysis into execution inside large, complex organizations. He has served in executive advisory roles for global enterprises such as Saudi Aramco and led transformations across energy, healthcare, and venture-backed firms, work centered on the questions school systems face every budget cycle: how an organization is structured, where its resources actually go, and what it takes to change course without disrupting the mission. At K12 Transparency he leads organizational design and execution strategy, translating what the data shows into steps a district can carry out — so a finding becomes a decision, and a decision becomes money back in the classroom.

  • Doctorate, Strategic Leadership
  • Organizational design
  • Execution strategy
Ron Hakes

Ron Hakes

Managing Partner | Consultant

Ron is a Certified Programs Manager (CPM) and Six Sigma Black Belt (CSSBB) with decades of executive leadership spanning finance, healthcare, and nonprofit governance. He has served as CEO of the Cincinnati Education & Research for Veterans Foundation and held senior advisory roles across budget management, cost efficiencies analysis, and fiscal compliance. Ron leads financial auditing operations, overseeing operational cost savings reviews, fund allocation accountability, and regulatory compliance assurance. His disciplined approach to budget optimization and fiduciary oversight ensures every engagement delivers measurable, defensible results.

  • Certified Programs Manager
  • Six Sigma Black Belt
  • Operational cost savings