Since 2021, unprecedented increases in energy costs, rapid increases in food costs and substantial increases in the cost of housing via higher rent/mortgage costs have driven a dramatic rise in the cost of living across England. Despite inflation having fallen from its peak in winter 2022, costs remain high compared to incomes and cost pressures…

The cost-of-living has been rising sharply across England since 2021, including unprecedented increases in energy costs, rapid increases in the costs of food and significant increases in the costs of housing via higher rents/mortgage costs. Drawing on online surveys of over 2700 teachers and senior leaders in April and May 2023 in mainstream and…

This brief provides guidance to decision makers in schools, districts, state education departments, and intermediary organizations about ways that cost analyses can help inform their decisions about program choices, budgets, and strategies. It addresses questions about: (1) why cost information matters in education; (2) what cost metrics are…

Teaching effectiveness is the most important in-school factor for improving student achievement. In order to attract, retain, develop, and motivate the most effective teaching force possible, many argue that teacher salaries should be elevated to compete with other professions that attract and retain strong talent. This paper explores how to…

In Pennsylvania as in many other states, employee pension costs are a significant source of financial pressure for school districts (Zeehandelaar and Northern 2013, Pennsylvania Public Employees' Retirement Commission 2013). In order to gain greater insight into the nature of Pennsylvania school districts' financial burden related to pension…

The print publishing industry is showing signs of recovering from the worst of the economic downturn even as the surge in popularity of ebooks raises questions about the future of printed materials. From a high of 190,502 titles in 2007, overall American book title output fell to 178,841 in 2009 but climbed back to 186,344 in 2010; preliminary…

This study investigates the economic impact of a "turnaround" school on real property values in its surrounding community as related to the argument introduced by Tiebout in 1956 correlating local public goods, in this case school success, to housing-location decision making. Using single-family home sales found on the Multiple Listing System and…

In this paper, I use Levin and McEwan's (2001) cost feasibility approach and personnel data obtained from the Superintendent of Public Instruction to estimate the cost of providing coaching support to every newly hired principal in Washington State. Based on this descriptive analysis, I estimate that the cost to provide leadership coaching to…

Most high school students are at an age when they are learning to drive. They often want to offer input when their parents decide on what vehicle to purchase, so the activity described in this article should have direct personal interest for them. It allows students to use technology and mathematics to determine the environmental impacts of…

Indiana has a long history of school funding issues and distribution formula revisions. The most recent modifications to the formula were made between 2005 and 2009. One of the more controversial revisions was the removal of the minimum guarantee from the formula. As a result of these changes, three school districts filed a lawsuit challenging the…

Annual double-digit increases in health insurance premiums may be the reality for school districts and private-sector employers for the foreseeable future. The author presents several factors that account for this unwelcome possibility. One cost-saving alternative for districts is to self-insure employees and assume the risks. Districts are…

A spate of school shootings in the U.S. has prompted policymakers to address the public's growing perception that our schools are unsafe. As education policymakers continue to press for additional security initiatives, it is important to understand the costs borne by school systems for these programs. Thus far, the scholarly literature is silent…

Freedom of any kind has intrinsic value, and education freedom is controversial, in need of empirical assessment of possible and likely trade-offs between freedom from state control and social goals such as equity and cohesion. Without a reasonable empirical measure of education freedom we can only cite the controversies and choose sides. The…

Purpose/Objectives: The purpose of this study was to compare food cost and public school foodservice directors' satisfaction between districts participating in school foodservice cooperatives or group purchasing arrangements and districts purchasing independently. It also assessed the prevalence of purchasing cooperatives in school foodservice and…

Charters represent an expansion of public school choice, offering free, publicly funded educational alternatives to traditional public schools. One relatively unexplored research question concerning charter schools asks whether charter schools are more efficient suppliers of educational services than are traditional public schools. The potential…