Determining the level and distribution of special education funding is an ongoing issue. Attempting to meet the extensive range of students' needs, while balancing funding coming from federal, state, and local sources leads to uneven funding burdens and questions about whether all student needs are being met. Traditionally, funding for special…

School funding formulas built upon historically inequitable foundations, such as the property-tax-based system in Texas, warrant continuous monitoring to understand the degree to which they contribute to inequity. Following a review of the political and legal history of the state's school funding formulas and the most recent school finance changes…

As state and federal governments place an increasing emphasis on academic outcomes, should they be used to determine adequate funding for students with disabilities (SWD)? Although adequacy is determined through a political process, it requires an understanding of cost -- the expenditure required to reach a specific outcome. Therefore, with the…

California state-level policies are responsible for allocating nearly 80 percent of the revenue received by its K-12 school districts. In 2013-14, the state implemented the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), which changed the allocation formula from one based primarily on equal revenue per pupil to an equity-focused allocation based primarily…

The purpose of this quantitative, causal comparative study was to determine the extent to which capital outlay inequities bear a relationship to cost-saving measures in general (non-capital) education funding associated with budget reductions in operational funding during a time of fiscal distress. Further, the study ascertained the extent to…

After being sued for inequity and inadequacy in school funding, many states in the US have reformed their education aid formulas but have still faced many criticisms. Using Connecticut as an example, this paper shows how to design a more equitable and adequate aid formula with tools to win broad support from communities and lawmakers. It develops…

This paper examines how school districts change teacher salaries in response to large changes in revenue. Using district-level salary schedule data for nearly all California school districts, we analyze two time periods: one with a decrease in funding (2007-08 to 2011-12 marked by the Great Recession) and one with a significant increase in funding…

This study involved an intradistrict equity audit of one mid-Atlantic school district using a Critical Resource Theory lens (Owings, Kaplan, & Whitfield, 2022). This study utilized publicly available school-level expenditure data to determine the allocation and distribution of resources to expose any existing disparities. We used Skrla,…

Over the past few decades, technology has revolutionized the way colleges and universities operate. This study examines the extent to which investments in information technology (IT) are associated with the number and types of higher education personnel. After accounting for time lags between IT funding and personnel changes, we found that…

In an era of globalized education policy, the problems of equitably funding public schools have universal relevance. Critical Resource Theory (CReT), a conceptual extension of Critical Theory (CT), uses data generated from quantitative analyses of public funding to inform policy and produce more equitable resources and outcomes for low-wealth…

Many important issues are being debated including but not limited to student debt reduction, a national policy for K-14 that may include free community college education, and the creation of new federal funding policies in the form of federal matching or maintenance of effort policies that hold state legislatures more accountable for maintaining…

Funding disparities between states and districts have been repeatedly documented, but scholars have put much less focus on resource inequities at the school level, a crucial gap in the research. In this study, I investigate school-level fiscal decision making in New York City public schools, a district that provides a unique look into expenditures…

District expenditures and efficiency can be influenced by the entry of charter schools. Loss of economies due to reduced enrollments and a rising share of high-cost students are some of the key mechanisms that could potentially increase the costs of providing education in district schools. The competitive pressure from charter schools could also…

States have increasingly relied on financial policies to address teacher staffing challenges, particularly in high need areas. Case in point, South Carolina developed the Rural Recruitment Initiative (RRI) to provide funding for recruitment and retention efforts in rural and other underserved districts facing severe teacher staffing challenges.…

This paper presents an exploratory analysis of the funding mechanisms for higher education across sixteen countries which builds upon existing work on educational institutions, educational outcomes, and welfare regimes. We focus upon the current financing dilemma within the Irish higher education system, seeking potential solutions within an…