This year is the 40th anniversary of the passage of Public Law 94-142--most commonly known as the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The law not only changed the way that students with disabilities are educated in this country, it also fundamentally changed the way that states fund their K-12 education programs. This ECS…

The fiscal climate of restraint in the Canadian province of Ontario has led to increased calls for a more diversified higher education system. Significant diversity in the university sector in Ontario has not been achieved that underscores the importance of understanding government policy and its related influences on institutional diversity. This…

Education spending cuts are upon us. After years of non-stop increases--national k-12 per-pupil spending is up by one-third in inflation-adjusted dollars since 1995--schools now face the near certainty of repeated annual budget cuts for the first time since the Great Depression. In some states and districts, reductions will be dramatic--well into…

Education Commission of the States (ECS) strives to keep its constituency apprised of education policy trends across the states. To provide a comprehensive overview of educational priorities outlined by governors, ECS summarized the education proposals and accomplishments detailed in every 2015 State of the State address delivered to date. Each…

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…

States are striving to support the expansion of technology tools and resources in K-12 education through state policies, programs, and funding in order to provide digital learning opportunities for all students. This paper highlights examples of states with policies in support of five key areas: (1) innovative funding streams and policy; (2)…

As states consider increases to K-12 spending amid better economic conditions, governors on opposite sides of the partisan divide are proposing significantly different plans and arguments for the best ways to use new education aid. Two prime examples: Minnesota and Ohio, a pair of Midwestern states with chief executives intent on pumping more…

Pennsylvania's deep cuts in funding to K-12 education since 2010-11 have drawn a great deal of attention in recent months. Less widely recognized is the fact that Pennsylvania enacted even deeper cuts, on a percentage basis, to funding for public higher education in the same period. Four-year colleges received the largest reductions in funding,…

The Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) represents a fundamental transformation of the way California allocates state funds to school districts and the ways the state expects districts to make decisions about (and report on) the use of these funds. This is the first in a series of short briefs that aims to capture some key themes emerging from…

California is in the middle of a nearly unprecedented period of change in the state's education system. Following voter approval of Proposition 30 in 2012, the Legislature adopted the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) in 2013. The LCFF upended the way California funds schools, redistributing revenues toward schools and school districts facing…

Background/Context: Performance funding finances public higher education institutions based on outcomes such as retention, course and degree completion, and job placement rather than inputs such as enrollments. One of the mysteries of state performance funding for higher education is that despite great interest in it for over 30 years, only half…

A year ago at ASBO International's Annual Meeting and Expo in Seattle, Washington, school business officials from four states presented a powerful double-session panel on the status of changes in teacher contracts and educational funding in their regions of the country. The presenters have since updated their comments with new information and…

Many state education leaders are taking a fresh look at school finance in hopes of containing costs. Some are reworking transportation formulas, or zeroing in on special education eligibility, or merging districts. Others are investing more in digital learning, charter innovations, and information systems. But state leaders too often overlook a…

State policy is crucial to the spread of digital-learning opportunities at the elementary and secondary level. A review of recent legislative action reveals policies that are constantly in flux and differ quite markedly from one state to another. Some have hoped for model digital-learning legislation that could handle all the various issues…

Our fixed-effects panel data analysis of state spending on higher education fills a near void of studies examining capital expenditures on higher education. In our study, we found that political characteristics (e.g., interest group activity, organizational structure, and formal powers) largely account for differences between general fund and…