This policy brief estimates the fiscal impacts of expanding New Hampshire's Education Freedom Account (EFA) program under two bills that were introduced in the state Legislature during the 2025 session. The analysis covers the first two years of each plan. The EFA program is currently open to public and private school K-12 students whose family…

In April 2024, the School Finance Indicators Database released new estimates of school district funding gaps, which refer to the difference between how much per-pupil funding each district "receives" and how much per-pupil funding each district "needs." Linking these estimates to Texas Education Agency (TEA) student achievement…

Current federal aid allocation policies do an admirable job of targeting aid to school districts serving the neediest students. But these policies have one significant, underlying weakness: they fail to consider states' effort levels (and their capacities to raise revenue). In this article, the authors propose a new federal aid framework that…

This study investigates how individual states raise revenue to pay for elementary-secondary education spending after a school finance reform (SFR). We consider 24 states that implemented SFRs between 1989 and 2005. Using a synthetic control approach, we identify six case-study states (Arkansas, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, and…

This study investigates how individual states raise revenue to pay for elementary-secondary education spending following school finance reforms (SFRs). We identify states that increased and sustained education expenditures after reform, search for legislative statutes that appropriated more education spending, and assess how policymakers funded…

Protecting Hunting Heritage and Education Act was put in place to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to clarify that the prohibition on the use of Federal education funds for certain weapons does not apply to the use of such weapons for training in archery, hunting, or other shooting sports. The Act includes the following…

State education finance systems play a fundamental role in providing the resources that schools and districts need to ensure student success. But modernizing and improving these systems is often complicated and can take years. Learning from their efforts to revamp education finance systems, Bellwether has found five common conditions that pave the…

Public education funding is a complex matter. It is widely understood that dollars for public schools come from federal, state, and local sources, but the revenue stream from each source is calculated in complex formulas and criteria that can make it hard for anyone to understand the system fully. Calculating aid based on some measure of the…

Evidence supports increasing student physical activity in school, and Comprehensive School Physical Activity Programs (CSPAPs) can help students meet national physical activity goals to support their physical and mental health. Although strategies and frameworks are readily available to support schools in their efforts to implement successful…

Addressing the needs of all student groups is paramount for ensuring equitable access to learning opportunities and fostering high academic success for all students. Students in the United States come from a diverse range of backgrounds, bringing with them knowledge, experiences, and other assets that inform the way they learn, but may also come…

The education landscape in low-income countries (LICs) and middle-income countries (MICs) is characterised by improving levels of school enrolments, but low levels of learning and systems performance, and critical shortfalls in education financing. In asking the question "what is the role of non-state actors in basic education in LICs and…

Using data from the latest 2017 Ghana Living Standards Survey Round Seven, this paper explores variables affecting household spending on education using the OLS model. The results showed that in the 12 months preceding the survey, household in the southern regions of Ghana increased their education spending on all the three types of the education…

Meeting students' basic food and nutrition requirements is an essential role of public schools and critical to student learning. Yet as with other support services in schools -- such as transportation and janitorial services -- school boards or school administrators who are worried about the bottom line may turn to outside companies to manage or…

This study investigates the extent of portable classroom use in the province of Ontario between the years 2010 and 2020. The research uses administrative data obtained from the Ontario Ministry of Education and from the 27 largest school boards in the province. The findings reveal that portable classrooms are used as long-term solutions to address…

China has established the world's largest education system. The gross enrollment ratio of pre-primary education, completion rate for compulsory education, and gross enrollment ratio of senior secondary education all exceed 90%. The gross enrollment ratio of higher education exceeds 60%, which is universally recognized as a high rate of enrollment.…