This research update from Research for Action's PACER project revisits and expands on prior analyses of fund balances across Pennsylvania's public education sectors using the most recent 2023-24 data. The findings show that cyber charter schools continue to grow per-pupil fund balances at a much faster rate than school districts or…

Amidst chronic disparities in per-student resources, how best to construct funding formulas to equitably fund colleges and universities is an enduring policy concern. This brief focuses on a historically overlooked financial mechanism, categorical funding, to examine its role in funding (in)equity. Leveraging illustrative data from four…

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…

In an effort to reduce state spending on special education in public schools, New Jersey moved to census-based funding as part of the new school funding formula, the School Funding Reform Act (SFRA), adopted in 2008. The census approach funds all districts using the statewide average classification rate and a statewide average "excess…

The three articles that comprise this dissertation examine different ways that current teachers can express leadership outside of their classrooms, through labor activity and within-school instructional leadership. I use descriptive and quasi-experimental quantitative analysis to examine which teachers take on these roles, their effectiveness, the…

On April 2, the Milwaukee Public Schools will ask Milwaukee voters to allow the district to exceed state revenue limits by up to $252 million over four years to support its schools and programs. Here, we give our impartial take on the referendum, based on more than a decade of annual reviews of MPS' budget and finances. Our intent is to frame for…

The purpose of this was to examine the relationship between Mississippi public school district per pupil funding disaggregated by funding source (total, federal, state, and local) and student academic achievement gaps within districts based on poverty and race. Pearson's correlational coefficient was used to assess the relationship across 139…

As discussed in "Splitting the Bill: How Are State Education Funding Formulas Structured?," state school funding formulas generally fit one of three structures -- student-based, resource-based, or program-based. The cornerstone of a student-based funding formula is the per-student base amount (also appropriately called the…

Over the past several decades, school funding in New Jersey has been through multiple reforms in attempts to provide districts with enough funding to offer students a thorough and efficient education. The most recent funding formula adjustment has led, and may continue to lead, to significant funding decreases for the majority of Sussex County,…

This dissertation examines the school-level impacts on student achievement in the state of Pennsylvania from the economic inputs provided to students and schools. I conduct a comprehensive review of prior literature on Pennsylvania education funding, the issue of equity versus adequacy, academic spending per pupil, and teacher compensation, as…

Understanding how urban school districts allocate their education funds can help school leaders create more effective budgeting strategies and provide a basis for advocating for additional funding when necessary. This report provides an overview of how urban districts distribute their financial resources, highlights key areas of spending, and…

At their best, K-12 public school systems can be engines of social and economic mobility. Unfortunately, schools in lower-income districts -- whose students have the greatest academic needs -- often receive less funding than their counterparts in more affluent districts. Discussions about closing these funding gaps usually zoom all the way out to…

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the relationship between district-level per-pupil expenditures and district-level student achievement in rural South Carolina school districts. School districts in rural South Carolina are synonymous with higher concentration of minority students and students living in poverty (Showalter, 2019). The…

State school finance systems can play an essential role in directing additional resources to schools serving economically disadvantaged students, and research suggests that these resources can make a measurable difference in student outcomes. The vast majority of states (45) allocate some funding to districts based on their enrollment of…

Identification rates of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have been increasing since the year 2000, while federal special education funding has remained stagnant. Researchers gathered data from states related to individual state funding systems, per pupil spending and identification rates of students with ASD to determine if state…