School finance reforms are not well defined and are likely more prevalent than the current literature has documented. Using a Bayesian changepoint estimator, we quantitatively identify the years when state education revenues abruptly increased for each state between 1960 and 2008 and then document the state-specific events that gave rise to these…

School districts and state education systems across the country are in the midst of an increasingly challenging fiscal environment. In many states, funding for K-12 education remains below pre-recession levels in what has been called a "punishing decade for school funding" (Leachman et al., 2017), despite efforts in recent years to…

The rising price of a year in college looms large on the American political landscape. Calls to make college free, or at least debt free, will figure prominently in policy and political debates going forward. To make sense of this debate, an understanding of the forces that have been driving the price of a year in postsecondary education upward…

In compliance with the provisions of A.C.A.§ 6-20-2201 et seq., Annual Statistical Report of the Public School of Arkansas and Education Service Cooperatives, 2017-2018 Actual and 2018-2019 Budgeted, (ASR) is presented here. The Rankings of Selected items of the Public Schools of Arkansas, 2017-2018 Actual, (Rankings) are also included. The school…

This article focuses on the application of "Savage Inequalities"-based analyses of data from the state of Idaho with a focus on equitable rural school funding. While Kozol's famous 1991 book-length work examining school inequalities was focused on urban centers and completed several decades ago, this article offers an updated examination…

In compliance with the provisions of A.C.A.§ 6-20-2201 et seq., the Annual Statistical Report of the Public Schools of Arkansas, Open Enrollment Public Charter Schools, and Education Service Cooperatives, 2018-2019 Actual and 2019-2020 Budgeted, (ASR) is hereby submitted. The Rankings of Selected items of the Public Schools of Arkansas, 2018-2019…

North Carolina special education funding utilizes a dollar allotment per identified student, applying a funding cap based on a percentage of district average daily membership. While representing an attempt to reduce over-identification of students with special needs the funding cap has led to large systematic disparities in district fiscal…

Funding for California schools had improved rapidly in recent years but is still insufficient to meet educational goals and address the needs of students. Now, schools and districts face three major challenges: precipitous declines in student academic achievement and social-emotional wellbeing; increased costs associated with distance learning and…

Funding for California schools has improved rapidly in recent years but remains insufficient to meet educational goals and address the needs of students, particularly given California's high cost of living. Now, school districts face flat or declining revenues and rapidly growing student academic and social-emotional needs due to COVID-19.…

Far from providing relief for working families, recent proposals to eliminate school property taxes in Pennsylvania would increase taxes on the middle class while sabotaging the chance to adequately fund Pennsylvania schools for middle- and low-income families. This report provides the first estimates of the impact of property tax elimination…

The most terrible and lasting effects of the coronavirus pandemic will of course be measured in loss of life. But a parallel tragedy will also be unfolding in the coming months and years, this one affecting those at the beginning of their lives: an unprecedented school funding crisis that threatens to disadvantage a generation of children. School…

In compliance with the provisions of A.C.A.§ 6-20-2201 et seq., the Annual Statistical Report of the Public School of Arkansas, Open Enrollment Public Charter Schools, and Education Service Cooperatives, 2016-2017 Actual and 2017-2018 Budgeted, (ASR) is hereby submitted. The Rankings of Selected items of the Public Schools of Arkansas, 2016-2017…

Milwaukee's system of K-12 public education is distinct from many other urban school systems in the degree of educational choices offered to students and their families. This range of options has fostered intense competition among Milwaukee's K-12 schools over the past decade. While enrollment in traditional Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) has…

In recent years, competition for K-12 enrollment in Wisconsin among traditional public schools, charter schools, and private schools using the state's voucher programs has intensified. Because elementary and secondary education finance in the state primarily is driven by enrollment, this has presented increasingly difficult fiscal conditions for…

In compliance with the provisions of A.C.A.§§6-20-2201 et seq., the Annual Statistical Report of the Public Schools of Arkansas, Public Charter Schools, and Education Service Cooperatives, 2014-2015 Actual and 2015-2016 Budgeted, (ASR) is presented here. The Rankings of Selected Items of the Public Schools of Arkansas, 2014-2015 Actual, (Rankings)…