We use close tax elections to estimate the impact of school district funding increases on operational spending and student outcomes across seven states. Districts with passing levies directed new revenue toward support services and instructor salaries but did not increase teacher staffing levels. These districts eventually realized gains in…

Seven decades after the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case "Brown vs. Board of Education," Michigan students of color continue to face devastating educational inequities in deeply under-resourced public schools. Today, they are far more likely to be enrolled in Michigan public schools with the highest concentrations of poverty, where they…

This report explains how Michigan could pursue a flexible funding program that would give learners greater agency, especially for middle-school and secondary students and their families. Charting a path to complete a diploma, every student would be allowed to use a portion of their per-pupil allotment to "purchase" courses from schools…

Michigan has a problem. By several measures, the achievement of students attending its K-12 educational system has not kept pace with other states. Although Michigan's student achievement has improved over the past decade, the improvement has been modest, and achievement in many other states has easily surpassed that in Michigan. Furthermore,…

Michigan's state-run school system is the largest and most expensive government service taxpayers support. It employs more than 350,000 people who work in one of the more than 4,100 different entities. The total amount this system expends each year adds up to more than $20 billion. Given the enormity and complexity of the system, it's no surprise…

This study examines the use of Schools of Choice throughout Michigan over the last decade. Nearly 100,000 Michigan students use Schools of Choice to attend a school outside of the district in which they live. Participation has grown steadily, with enrollment growing by 144 percent over the past 10 years. This study finds that students enter…

In fashioning public school finance systems, states must balance competing values. Michigan's replacement of a general-aid formula and numerous categorical grant programs with a modified foundation formula constituted a substantial shift away from choice (local determination of spending level) and toward equality (smaller intradistrict spending…

Through finance reform, Michigan cut property taxes for school operations nearly 50% and exchanged a district power-equalizing approach to a foundation-allowance program. After three years, there are still strong connections between property wealth and district revenue. However, Michigan has made progress toward equal financial resources for the…

The system that finances Michigan's schools from kindergarten through 12th grade is a perennial topic of conversation among policymakers, parents, taxpayers and voters. A constructive discussion of this issue, however, requires a sound knowledge of the financial workings of Michigan's elementary and secondary school system. This knowledge is…

The funding and operation of Michigan's K-12 public school system was substantially changed in March 1994, with voter approval of a constitutional amendment and legislative adoption of 24 implementing state statutes. The comprehensive school funding proposal substantially reduced local property taxes; increased, and in some cases decreased, the…

Education finance policy has become an urgent concern in many state legislatures. Demands for greater equity and accountability have forced states to review, and in many cases to revise, the method by which schools are funded. This study sheds light on Indiana's financing of public K-12 education by providing a clear explanation of the components…