She earned her Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley’s Graduate School of Education in education policy. Her mixed methods research focuses on the politics of education policy, educational privatization, school finance equity, and school leadership for school improvement. Dr. Rivera studied government and business administration as an undergraduate at The University of Texas at Austin and earned a Master of Science for Teachers at Pace University while teaching middle school in the Bronx, New York and a Master of Public Policy from the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley.