Policy Advisor Project Charter

Initial Test Scenarios: See Demo Scenarios & Success Criteria for the specific example queries we are solving for in the MVP.

1. Executive Summary

The Policy Advisor is a conversational interface that makes the Teacher Contract Database (TCD) usable through plain-language Q&A. It connects verified calculations, contract citations, and NCTQ publications to deliver trustworthy, context-rich answers for district leaders, HR teams, researchers, journalists, and advocates. This charter outlines user needs, architectural choices, lessons from beta testing, and a phased implementation roadmap.

2. Purpose and Outcomes

Primary Purpose

Provide accurate, cited answers to district policy questions that enable comparisons across peer districts and over time, grounded in NCTQ's research and curated glossary.

Key Outcomes

Faster, more confident decision-making during negotiations and policy design
Consistent application of decision rules across metrics and districts
Reusable, traceable evidence via citations and calculation versions
Reduced analyst time spent on retrieval and formatting, enabling focus on interpretation
Transparent sourcing by showing sources, reasoning, and versioning

3. Primary Users and Jobs-To-Be-Done

District Leaders During Negotiations

Quickly benchmark against peer districts
Retrieve model or exemplar language
Understand policy implications and tradeoffs