California's transition to a new governor, superintendent of public instruction, legislators, and members of the state board of education is an opportunity to reflect on the implementation of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). Namely, has the school finance system achieved its original goals of promoting local control, equity, and greater…

The Australian Government provides basic operating grants to universities, which are used to teach domestic undergraduate students. It imposes a productivity offset on the grants to encourage improvements in university productivity. But it is not transparent and does not vary across universities. Thus, universities have little incentive to improve…

Imagine students attending colleges and universities around the country having their financial needs met without the use of federal loans, Pell Grants, and higher education tax credits. In "Starting from Scratch: A New Federal and State Partnership in Higher Education," New America's Higher Education Policy Program shares its vision for…

Superintendent Andres A. Alonso arrived in Baltimore in 2007 with a vision for improving the city's struggling schools. His vision included empowering school leaders and creating accountability for student learning through a series of reforms that center around a new system for giving resources to schools, called Fair Student Funding (FSF). FSF…

On February 17, 2009, President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The Act commits $100 billion to education, with $8.5 billion allocated to California. Education programs to receive funding through ARRA include Local Education Agency Title I Grants, Educational Technology Grants, IDEA Grants, Federal…

The overarching goals of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 are to immediately stimulate the economy in the short term and to invest in education and other essential public services that will ensure the long-term economic health of this nation. The United States Education Department (USED) offers guiding principles to be…

This overview provides a synthesis of a comprehensive survey of school finance programs in the 50 states conducted in 2006-07. Information was provided by chief state school finance officers or persons with expertise in a state's public school funding-allocation system. Brief descriptions of the major Pre-K-12 funding formulae, district-based…

This paper presents the U.S. Department of Education's Fiscal Year (FY) "2010 Annual Performance Report" (APR). This report provides detailed information on: (1) the status of strategic goals, and (2) the outcomes of the strategic performance measures identified in the Department's "FY 2007-2012 Strategic Plan" and updated previously in the "FY…

The political landscape in school finance has undergone significant changes in the United States in recent years. It was only a generation ago that the state government assumed the primary funding responsibility in public schools, public agencies at the state and local level "monopolized" service delivery, and many reform initiatives did…

Current formula funding practices in the South and implications for the future are analyzed. Formula funding systems are used in 12 of the 14 states belonging to the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB). Changes that have occurred in the formulas of each state since 1973-74 are described. Data from 1977-78 academic year are compared to the…