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…

In the wake of the 2007 housing crash and subsequent economic recession, state legislatures across the country faced substantial declines in revenues, and by 2011, for the first time in more than a decade, average spending on education declined. However, states' budgetary responses to the Great Recession were decidedly uneven, with some making…

"Advice from the Principal's Desk: 5 Pillars of School Leadership" is a fresh, new take on school leadership from award-winning former school administrator and professor of education Dr. David Franklin. In the book, you'll find the tools and strategies that veteran school administrators need to succeed in their roles. You'll learn how to…

The U.S. Department of Education made recent technical changes reducing eligibility for the Rural and Low-Income School Program. Given smaller budgets and lower economies of scale, rural districts may be less able to absorb short-term funding cuts and experience stronger negative achievement effects. Kansas implemented a state-level finance change…

In the decade following the Great Recession, students across the U.S. lost nearly $600 billion from the states' disinvestment in their public schools. Data from 2008-2018 show that, if states had simply maintained their fiscal effort in PK-12 education at pre-Recession levels, public schools would have had over half a trillion dollars more in…

The 50-State Comparison on teacher employment contract policies provides a national comparison of teacher employment contract policies in all states. All of the information was gathered from and focused on state statutes and regulations. State case law was also utilized for metrics related to collective bargaining. Data collection focused…

With declines in enrollment and attendance, increases in student poverty, and potential reductions in state revenue, policymakers are facing a perfect storm of uncertainty in apportioning K-12 education funding. State policymakers typically use prior-year enrollment numbers or average daily attendance to allocate funding proportional to the number…

This brief is part of Education Law Center's "Tracking State Aid Cuts in the Pandemic" series. In June 2020, amid the economic crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Georgia Legislature enacted a 10% cut in state aid for K-12 public education totaling $950 million. The cut applied equally to all school districts, without regard…

This brief is part of Education Law Center's "Tracking State Aid Cuts in the Pandemic" series. Michigan schools have struggled with reductions in funding over the last decade. In July, the Michigan Legislature approved a state aid cut of $175 per pupil, totaling $256 million. The cut was applied equally to all districts, from those with…

Deciding how to spend the nation's education dollars is a tremendous responsibility. It's easy to forget that this responsibility falls primarily to district leaders (sometimes with input from principals). Sometimes those decisions go well and schools beat the odds on student outcomes. Other times, they do not, and student outcomes lag. Sometimes…

In the last four years, teacher-activists in the United States have engaged in an unprecedented wave of protests and strikes. The developing body of literature seeking to understand this flurry of activity has taken various analytical approaches; for example, distilling movements into their key tactics in the hopes of lending important tools to…

This brief is part of Education Law Center's "Tracking State Aid Cuts in the Pandemic" series. Against a backdrop of significant underfunding even before the pandemic, the Texas Education Agency announced in June that federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding would be used in place of the final payments…

Demographic projections from the California Department of Finance (DOF) suggest that California's public K-12 school system is entering a long period of declining enrollment. Districts with declining enrollment face fiscal pressures, as state funding is tied to the number of students they serve. Declining enrollment also has important implications…

In the wake of COVID-19, school systems face a daunting set of challenges as they plan for the 2020-2021 school year -- including meeting students' increased academic and social-emotional needs, implementing physical distancing requirements, and grappling with significant revenue loss. School systems must prepare for the 2020-2021 school year with…

This brief is one in a series aimed at providing K-12 education decision makers and advocates with an evidence base to ground discussions about how to best serve students during and following the novel coronavirus pandemic. It addresses one central question: What are the key considerations for districts that may need to reduce spending and…