In the wake of COVID-19, the U.S. pre-K-12 education system needs more than a refresh. Based on the success and popularity of the Opportunity Culture model, in this brief Public Impact recommends the means to bring critical, effective instructional and emotional supports to millions of teachers and their students--for a price tag the country can…

In 2016, a group of school finance scholars and public school practitioners gathered in Jacksonville, Florida, for the National Education Finance Academy's annual conference to discuss, among an array of topics, the state of P-20 finance in all 50 states. At the roundtable discussion, 36 states were represented, and scholars representing 30 states…

This report on the funding of school education constitutes the first in a series of thematic comparative reports bringing together findings from the OECD School Resources Review. School systems have limited financial resources with which to pursue their objectives and the design of school funding policies plays a key role in ensuring that…

Examining resource allocation practices, including savings, of charter schools is critical to understanding their financial viability and sustainability. Using 9 years of finance data from California, we find charter schools spend less on instruction and pupil support services than traditional public schools. The lower spending on instruction and…

Since March 2021, school district leaders have been developing and implementing plans to spend their "ARP dollars," that is, the historic $122 billion allocated from the American Rescue Plan to help districts recover from the devastating effects of the pandemic. The money, also referred to as ESSER funds (Elementary and Secondary School…

We study the impact of post-1990 school finance reforms, during the so-called "adequacy" era, on absolute and relative spending and achievement in low-income school districts. Using an event study research design that exploits the apparent randomness of reform timing, we show that reforms lead to sharp, immediate, and sustained increases…

To address lingering pressures in the aftermath of the pandemic, California public schools received record funding, largely bolstered by nearly $60 billion in federal and state one-time stimulus funds. This report takes a comprehensive look at the allocation and uses of these federal and state educational recovery funds in California.

Ever since the first charter school opened in Minnesota in 1992, the battle for fair funding has raged across the land. Advocates of charters--independently run, nonprofit public schools--have pressed hard to eliminate the massive disparities in the funding that charter students receive when compared with their district-operated peers serving…

In 1965, Congress established Title I, Part A (herein referred to as Title I) as a part of the landmark Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Congress noted two issues that it hoped to address through Title I funding: schools needed additional financial assistance to provide services to children in low-income families, and school…

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between the distribution of educational funds allocated by the central government and the educational achievement distribution (EAD) at the primary school level. To this end, the extent of equity in education funding, and the extent of the equality of educational opportunity (EEO) in the…

In 2017, the California Department of Education (CDE) announced the "Small School District Assistance Initiative," aimed at providing targeted assistance to small and rural school districts in the state. A prime focus of the initiative is assisting small and rural school districts with improving their facilities. To aid CDE's efforts,…

This study investigates the school facility challenges and issues facing rural and small school districts in California. A mixed method approach was utilized (analysis of district characteristics, spending patterns, and 40 interviews with superintendents) to understand the capital investment patterns and facility planning processes of these…

Trenton Public Schools (TPS) have faced multiple years of fiscal turmoil as the district struggles to provide students with the resources required to meet the State's Core Curriculum Content Standards (CCSS). Under the tenure of Governor Chris Christie, the State failed to provide the state aid needed to support the district's budget, eroding…

Since the first charter school law passed in Minnesota in 1991, over 40 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws allowing the publicly funded, privately managed, and semiautonomous schools of choice. Ever since the first charter school opened in Minnesota in 1992, the battle for fair funding has raged across the land. On the one hand,…

Early childhood development and education (ECDE) is devolved in Kenya, which means that each of Kenya's 47 counties budgets for and implements ECDE independently. Kenya provides two years of preprimary education to children ages four and five. Given scarce resources, constructing facilities and hiring teachers are often principal considerations…