Determining whether a state's young people are on track for a life of opportunity is a difficult task for governors and state leaders. States can be both awash in data and unable to easily access and use that data to inform policy. State longitudinal data systems that meaningfully connect workforce, higher education, K-12, and early childhood…

Communities across the country are grappling with different approaches to improving their schools. Introducing or expanding charter schools is one of the approaches that states and school districts have considered or implemented. Charter schools serve more than 5 percent of public school students nationwide and make up close to 7 percent of all…

This paper examines issues concerning educational finance in the Washington, D.C. public schools according to three measures of adequacy: city budget, per pupil expenditures, and teacher-student ratio. The issues are discussed in the context of historical, social, and political developments (the change from Federal control over the school district…