Texas is large, diverse, and enjoys a growing economy. We need a public school finance system that gives all students a fair shot, regardless of where they live. Though it is the state's responsibility to provide a substantial share of school funding, Texas relies heavily on local property taxes to fund our schools. Because property values vary…

In this forthcoming book chapter, the authors provide an in-depth description of the history and current issues pertaining to public school finance in Washington State, including how recent federal stimulus funding impacted resource levels. The state uses a resource-based funding model, where the amount of funds each school district receives is…

These technical appendixes accompany the study, "Funding California Schools When Budgets Fall Short." The study explores how the Great Recession impacted funding for California's K-12 system, how prepared districts are for potential funding cuts, and what policy choices could forge a more financially resilient system. Using data on…

The COVID-19 pandemic is creating a crisis in state and local budgets, potentially leaving many schools to face budgetary declines even as they've had to transform the way they serve their students, particularly those who are most vulnerable. Bruce Baker, Mark Weber, and Drew Atchison offer four recommendations for mitigating the looming fiscal…

A growing number of states have policies that positively address resource equity in school construction, distributing capital resources based on district wealth (although as addressed in this brief, these policies are not always implemented with actual funding), but almost no states require any consideration of diversity or segregation in their…

California's K-12 school facilities require significant new and ongoing investments to address aging infrastructure, changes in educational programs, and federal and state regulations. Funding for facilities comes mostly from local sources and depends on local property wealth. The state provides some funding through the School Facility Program…

Informed and inclusive charter school authorizing means taking a community-based approach to better understand and meet the needs and interests of the students, families, and communities that charter schools intend to serve. This shift is unfolding in the context of state statutes and regulations and, in some places, local policies or processes…

The goal of state special education funding should be to equitably distribute funds that are adequate for all schools to meet their legal obligation to provide a free and appropriate public education to students with disabilities. Unfortunately, inadequate state special education funding is growing more common in Philadelphia schools. In this…

When policy advocates debate how best to ensure equity in public education funding, the topic of teacher pension reform rarely comes up. But, in fact, pensions represent a very large and fast-growing source of education spending, much of it distributed in ways that are, in a number of states, anything but equitable. When states subsidize teacher…

The American School District Panel (ASDP) is the newest addition to the RAND Corporation's American Educator Panels (AEP), which are designed to survey panels of educators several times each year. RAND recruits AEP members using probabilistic sampling methods, which allow researchers to weight survey results to generalize to the national…

This document contains the technical appendices for the report "Equitable State Funding for School Facilities: Assessing California's School Facility Program." Appendices include: (1) Data Sources; and (2) Supplemental Tables and Figures. [The authors received research support from Joseph Herrera. For the full report, see ED617949. For…

Beginning in 2018, the Texas Commission on Public School Finance, comprised of 13 members inside and outside of the legislature, will begin the task of studying and making recommendations to improve the school finance system. This five-part series prepares readers to engage with lawmakers and the school finance commission by providing background…

Beginning in 2018, the Texas Commission on Public School Finance, comprised of 13 members inside and outside of the legislature, will begin the task of studying and making recommendations to improve the school finance system. This five-part series prepares readers to engage with lawmakers and the school finance commission by providing background…

Beginning in 2018, the Texas Commission on Public School Finance, comprised of 13 members inside and outside of the legislature, will begin the task of studying and making recommendations to improve the school finance system. This five-part series prepares readers to engage with lawmakers and the school finance commission by providing background…

Research suggests students learn better in classrooms that are modern, comfortable, and safe, but the age and condition of school facilities varies widely across the state. According to a recent estimate, California school districts need to spend between $3.1 billion and $4.1 billion annually just to maintain their existing facilities. Further,…