A commonly used metric for measuring college costs, drawn from data in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), is expenditure per full-time equivalent (FTE) student. This article discusses an error in this per FTE calculation when using IPEDS data, especially with regard to community colleges. The problem is that expenditures…

This statistical analysis report presents key findings and other data highlights from School-Level Finance Survey (SLFS) in school years 2015-16 and 2016-17. The report focuses on (1) the completeness and comparability of SLFS data and (2) how the SLFS can be utilized to evaluate differences in resource allocation (as measured by school-level…

Scholarship tax credit programs provide a tax credit to businesses and individual taxpayers for donating funds to scholarship granting organizations. Nonprofit organizations manage and distribute donated funds in the form of private school tuition scholarships to eligible students. There are currently 24 scholarship tax credit programs in 19…

The Program for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities, Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), is a federal grant program that assists states in operating a comprehensive statewide program of early intervention services for infants and toddlers with disabilities, ages birth through age 2 years, and their families. This…

In order to expand high quality public preschool, a 3-step approach to ensuring adequate funding is needed. First, design a program to meet a state's goals and then determine the cost of that program. Second, designate how the resources to pay for that cost will be obtained. Third, specify how the funds will be distributed to local entities. The…

Racially segregated schools influence the distribution of educational opportunity. When students of different races enroll in separate schools, systematic differences in access to school resources and exposure to high levels of student need can emerge. Using recently available national school-level finance data, we find that typical Black and…

How much does spending vary across US public schools? And how much do the schools that low-income students attend spend compared to schools attended by their more advantaged peers? Students are educated in schools, which are frequently segregated by race and socioeconomic status, and spending can vary across schools within the same district. But…

As advocates for infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities, the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) believes fully funding the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is integral to ensuring a strong public education system that can deliver on the promise of a free appropriate public education (FAPE) as guaranteed by…

This poll was conducted between October 13-October 21, 2022 among a sample of 1,000 All Teachers. The interviews were conducted online. Among the key findings are: (1) Roughly one-fourth of teachers believe students are performing very well academically, emotionally, and socially; (2) Nearly half of teachers believe their school is political,…

School vouchers are state-funded programs--often called scholarship programs--that allow students to use public monies to attend a private school. The state provides a set amount of money, typically based on the state's per-pupil amount, for private school tuition. There are currently 27 voucher programs in 16 states and the District of Columbia.…

During the Great Recession, national public school per-pupil spend-ing fell by roughly 7 percent and persisted beyond the recovery. The impact of such large and sustained education funding cuts is not well understood. To examine this, first, we document that the recessionary drop in spending coincided with the end of decades-long national growth…

Students with emotional and behavioral disabilities experience poor post-secondary outcomes despite the existence of research-based best practices to improve outcomes (Freeman et al., 2019; Mitchel et al., 2019). Research signifies this population as under-served and under-identified (Barnett, 2012). Additionally, funding best practices indicate…

In times of financial crises, it is crucial to understand how district leaders prioritize spending to ensure an adequate and equitable education for all students. This paper examines how districts in Alabama altered spending during the Great Recession. Results demonstrate that expenditure cuts were more intense for high needs student populations,…

In recent years, some school districts across Allegheny County have made noteworthy changes to school policing. While some districts have sought to reduce or eliminate reliance on police, a growing number of other districts in the county have, with community support announced expanded police presence and in some cases have decided to arm police.…

This is the first of two reports exploring the relationship between coal activity and funding for elementary and secondary education in the Appalachian Region. In this first report, patterns in funding for elementary and secondary education are explored using annual data from 1995 to 2016. Counties that had some level of coal employment over this…