This document was created as a resource to identify and describe four properties of effective resource allocation systems to help anchor the resource allocation review process in the State of Illinois and build districts' understanding of these properties. An effective resource allocation system will have the following properties: (1)…

We use CUPA-HR data to analyze representation and pay equity for women and racial/ethnic minorities in higher education full-time faculty from 2016-17 to 2022-23, across tenure status, rank, discipline, and total operating expenses of institutions. Results indicate that, despite some growth in the representation of women and faculty of color in…

This article aims to understand how access, equity and redress challenges are addressed at South Africa's public universities based on their current funding frameworks. Relying on a pragmatic research approach combining desk-research literature review and secondary data analysis, government funding and tuition fees were found to be the primary…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to inform local practices in the state of Oklahoma regarding the equitable allocation of resources within school districts by examining the relationship between student per-pupil expenditures at high schools located in an urban district and student outcomes. Significant efforts, both legal and academic,…

In this study, we leverage national data sources to examine the relationship between community colleges' level of reliance on local funding and their total institutional revenue, focusing specifically on community colleges educating the largest shares of low-income and racially minoritized students. We show that local funding is positively related…

The question whether money matters in education strikes at the foundation of America's democracy - an educated electorate. Despite decades of evidence that money does matter, the question still remains unanswered among many and even answered to the contrary of the evidence. It is important to fully understand that money does matter in American…

In this paper, we put forth a framework called Critical School Finance, articulating the framework itself and then applying it to school facilities finance. First, we go back to first principles and discuss what 'critical' denotes, revisiting critical theorist Max Horkheimer's seminal essay 'Traditional vs. Critical Theory.' Second, we offer five…

This article examines the experiences of racialized graduate students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs at one Canadian university. There is virtually no research on racialized inequity and STEM higher education in the Canadian context despite a robust body of literature outside of Canada, especially in the…

In 2013, California enacted an ambitious school funding reform--the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). The LCFF fundamentally overhauled the state's prior K-12 education finance system, which studies found to be inequitable, irrational, and highly centralized. More than a decade after its enactment, a growing body of research indicates the LCFF…

States diverge widely when it comes to education funding choices, leading to substantial differences in how much states spend on schooling, the role of local versus state revenue sources, and relative differences among districts in funding levels. Prior studies have documented that Democratic party control of state governments appears to be…

Parental and community supports are important factors for Latino student academic success. The purpose of this paper is to explore the parental and community activism surrounding the "San Antonio v. Rodriguez" school finance case in order to better understand how historic means of activism relate to the contemporary ways that Latino…

The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The focus of this issue is "Visions of Educational Equity for the New Year." Contents include: (1)…

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a demanding teacher. In "Getting Ready," William D. Adams explores how colleges and universities can draw from the pandemic's lessons about science, history, culture, and technology--as well as harsh truths about politics, systemic racism, economic inequality, and the fragile nature of democracy--to prepare…

Over the past 10-15 years, there has emerged a growing consensus, supported by high-quality empirical research, that additional funding improves student outcomes (and funding cuts hurt those outcomes), particularly among disadvantaged students. There are, of course, serious and important debates about how education funding should be spent. Yet…

Public school districts across California struggle to upkeep and modernize their school facilities. For many districts, aging inventory, coupled with limited capital funding opportunities, has led to school facilities with ballooning deferred maintenance problems and classrooms that do not appropriately support modern instructional practices.…