In an effort to reduce state spending on special education in public schools, New Jersey moved to census-based funding as part of the new school funding formula, the School Funding Reform Act (SFRA), adopted in 2008. The census approach funds all districts using the statewide average classification rate and a statewide average "excess…

The purpose of this study was to explore if and how urban school districts explicitly addressed the needs of Black students within their budgets. Culturally responsive school leadership was used to examine district leaders' budgetary actions. Using content analysis methods and randomized purposeful sampling, we reviewed budget plans from districts…

Improving equity of education funding is a key to addressing social injustices in education. Weighted student funding systems are a relatively novel approach a number of large urban and suburban districts have used to try to improve the equity of school funding. In a weighted student funding (WSF) system, the dollars distributed to schools are…

Hold-harmless provisions in state aid formulas are meant to restrict declines in revenues for school districts. They may take several forms, including limits on the changes in state aid from year to year, supplemental funding for districts with declining enrollment, alternatives for calculating the state aid amount, or use of past enrollments in…

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the use of data for assessing library collection utilization, to explore what tools are available to help guide purchasing decisions, and to create a blueprint for applying percentage-based allocation formulas to community college library collection budgets. Because there is little literature on…

Budgets do not only pay the costs of activities. They also reveal the ambitions and limitations of an organization. The opportunities presented in a budget are also bounded by the structural elements used by that institution: how costs and revenues are organized, how overhead is calculated and apportioned, and how assets and investments are…

When then-Governor Jerry Brown signed the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) into law in 2013, California's leaders were hopeful that this legislation would set high expectations for flexibility, transparency, and equity within school districts. A key component of the legislation was to allow districts more flexibility to make spending decisions…

Students of color continue to experience disparities in enrollment, retention and completion of postsecondary education -- a reality that's been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. In light of persistent and systemic inequities, policymakers are increasingly interested in exploring funding approaches that support greater access and attainment to…

This document contains the survey data and tables for the report "An Evaluation of Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act Funding for Postsecondary Institutions." In January and February 2021, National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) collaborated with Student Affairs Administrators in Higher…

Weighted student funding (WSF) decentralizes control over resources and empowers principals as financial leaders of their schools. In this study, we set out to understand how principals are making use of those leadership opportunities. Based upon a 2017-18 survey of 639 principals in 14 school districts implementing WSF, we find that principals…

Great public schools provide a foundation of opportunity for children, their families, communities and the entire state. All children, regardless of ZIP code, race or family income deserve to be educated in fully and fairly funded schools. Yet for many years Ohio lawmakers have provided neither sufficient nor fair distribution of state support.…

North Carolina special education funding utilizes a dollar allotment per identified student, applying a funding cap based on a percentage of district average daily membership. While representing an attempt to reduce over-identification of students with special needs the funding cap has led to large systematic disparities in district fiscal…

The objective of this policy brief is to explain the purpose of adjustment aid in New Jersey's school funding formula and to correct several misconceptions about the level of aid and how it is distributed. The main conclusions include: (1) The amount of adjustment aid in the funding formula is currently overstated in the "informational"…

At $14 billion, the investment in operating support for higher education institutions from the coronavirus relief bill, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, is the largest one-year federal infusion of funds going straight to colleges since the Great Recession. Yet it's nowhere close to enough. Many states have already…

The link between education funding levels and student outcomes is a matter of continuing debate, including in New York State. State education aid in New York follows a progressive formula that targets more aid to lower-income, higher-need school districts, yet these districts continue to dominate lists of the state's lowest performing schools. The…