With 20 new governors and 16 re-elected governors starting new terms in January, 2019 has the potential to be a year of big change at the state level. This is particularly the case in the early childhood policy arena, as many newly elected governors discussed early childhood education as part of their campaigns. Governors are in a prime position…

Many state and education leaders continue to support and employ methods that prevent schools and principals from undertaking the efforts that they think are most needed to improve education in their classrooms. The use of state categorical grants--funds to school districts with strict limits on their use--exemplifies this lack of innovation in…

How a state chooses to design its system of funding schools is ultimately a question of education governance, determining who--state policymakers, school districts, or school principals--gets to make the decisions about how and where funding is spent. States have two primary ways of funding schools: the foundation, or base funding that is intended…