The distribution of state funding to school districts has a tremendous impact on student learning opportunities. State leaders juggle different priorities, tradeoffs and incentives when designing funding formulas with the goal of ensuring every student has the learning opportunities to succeed. This toolkit offers a strategic guide for reforming…

The financial and economic environment in which Canadian universities operate has evolved in the last two decades, which include the 2008/2009 recession, the COVID-19 pandemic and the increased reliance on international student tuition fees as a source of revenue. Financial data from the Financial Information of Universities Survey (FINUNI) can…

High-quality professional learning can support in-service leaders' effectiveness by developing the skills, knowledge, and competencies necessary for addressing their full range of leadership responsibilities. however, recent data show that leaders' access to professional learning varies across states and communities and that leaders in…

Wisconsin voters approved a record number of referenda in 2024 to increase property taxes to fund their local schools, and nearly set a record for the most referenda to fund municipalities or counties. However, the approval rate for school ballot questions continued a downward trend. These trends raise questions about both the adequacy of current…

In this paper, we report the description and evaluation of an annual workshop titled "Capacity Building Workshops for Competitive S-STEM Proposals from Two-Year Colleges in the Western U.S." which was offered in June of 2019, 2020, and 2021 with the goal of facilitating submissions to the NSF S-STEM program from 2-year colleges (2YCs).…

This study proposes a mission-oriented framework for funding public research institutions (PRIs). Using a multi-case study approach and focus group interviews, a comprehensive framework was developed and refined. The framework encompasses three main dimensions: funding mechanisms, the amount of government funding, and organizational arrangements…

The COVID-19 pandemic profoundly disrupted educational opportunities for English learner-designated (EL) students. To address these disruptions districts across the nation received unprecedented levels of federal and state funding. This study examines how California school districts responded to challenges faced by EL-designated students in the…

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), most recently comprehensively amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA; P.L. 114-95), is the primary source of federal aid to support elementary and secondary education. The Title I-A program is the largest grant program authorized under the ESEA and was funded at $18.4 billion for FY2023.…

Through its "Master Plan for Kids' Mental Health," California has invested $4.7 billion in youth mental and behavioral health since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Expanding behavioral health services on school campuses has been a powerful way to ensure equitable access to this support. However, most of the state's new behavioral…

Over the last two decades, public appropriations for Illinois have been cut in half, increasing tuition and fees for students and contributing to college population declines, underemployment, and hundreds of millions in lost future tax revenue. This document explains the issues facing public university funding in Illinois and lays out the case for…

What can the federal government do to help ensure that the public schools attended by children living in poverty have enough resources to serve their students? In this brief, we describe existing federal efforts to support education spending in high-poverty districts, discuss their limitations, and suggest alternative approaches for federal…

The School Funding Reform Act (SFRA), New Jersey's school finance law, requires the Governor, in consultation with the Commissioner of Education, to review certain components of the school funding formula every three years. The New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) issued four Educational Adequacy Reports (EAR) between 2013 and 2022, but none…

Equitable educational opportunities and outcomes are crucial for the success of all students. What can state and local educational agencies do to address inequities? This infographic shares resources, conditions for success, and examples of innovative models to ensure all students are set up to succeed.

Over the past four years, Florida has seen tremendous growth in the amount of public funds being spent on private education. This report finds that in 2022-23, an estimated $1.3 billion in funding will be redirected from public school districts to private education, representing 10% of state K-12 education funds allocated through the Florida…

A.C.A. §6-61-234 (Act 148 of 2017) directs the Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board (AHECB) to adopt polices developed by the Arkansas Division of Higher Education (ADHE) necessary to implement a productivity-based funding model for state-supported institutions of higher education. At its October 27, 2017 meeting, the AHECB approved the…