This report discusses the current status of school finance and singles out trends affecting the efforts of professional teachers' organizations to secure adequate funds for education. The document also contains employment and salary data on teachers at the primary, secondary, and higher education levels. Information on expenditures includes…

Maine should be very proud of its public school system. Without question, since passage of the Sinclair Act in 1957, Maine has made great strides in the last 45 years in improving the quality of its public schools, and in expanding educational opportunities for more and more of its children. Maine citizens have increased their investment four-fold…

The data presented in this combined report--"Rankings & Estimates"--provide facts about the extent to which local, state, and national governments commit resources to public education. As one might expect in a nation as diverse as the United States--with respect to economics, geography, and politics--the level of commitment to…

The state of Washington has a long-standing commitment to postsecondary education opportunities for all students, regardless of income. The purpose of this report is to provide the members of the Higher Education Coordinating Board with: (1) An overview of state, federal, and institutional financial aid in Washington; (2) A description of notable…

Traditionally, financing the construction of school facilities has been a local responsibility. In the past several decades, states have increased their support for school facilities. Using data collected from various sources, this study first classifies the design of capital aid programs in all 50 states into various categories based on the scope…

This brief publication contains data on revenues and expenditures per pupil made by school districts for school year 2004-05. Median per pupil revenue and expenditure data are reported by state, as well as values at the 5th and 95th percentiles. Data for charter schools are reported separately. There are also discussions on the different types of…

In this brief essay, the author reacts to a recent bill from the House Education and Workforce Committee by praising its identification of wasteful spending on higher education programs while expressing unhappiness with its creation of new entitlements and subsidies. In the author's opinion, the savings produced by the spending cut should instead…

Each year, the National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs (NASSGAP) completes a survey regarding state-funded expenditures for postsecondary student financial aid. This report, the 38th annual survey, represents data from academic year 2006-07. Data highlights of this survey include: (1) In the 2006-2007 academic year, the states…

State and private agencies have attempted to determine the costs of providing an "adequate" education for public elementary and secondary students. In order to identify adequacy target expenditures, four education finance models currently are found within the education finance research literature: (1) Professional Judgment Model; (2) Statistical…

The standard benefit incidence algebra generally produces biased estimates of the distribution of public spending on education when students from poor and rich families are enrolled in schools that receive different levels of public spending per student. Except in very rare instances, removing these biases entails combining several sources of…

This article provides information about children with autism who are supported by English social services departments based on the Children in Need Survey 2001 (CIN2001). In 119 authorities, 6310 children were recorded as having a diagnosis of autism or related conditions, probably about one-quarter of all children with such diagnoses and about…

This paper presents facts and figures of the international higher education. Facts reveal that the UK sells more brainpower per capita than anywhere else in the world. The UK has 1% of the world's population but undertakes 5% of the world's scientific research and produces 14% of the world's most highly cited papers (Universities UK 2010). More…

Maryland's school finance system experienced a restructuring in 2002 with the passage of SB 856, the "Bridge to Excellence Act." The "Bridge" Act set the funding amount for "base" students, brought state funding for kindergarten students on par with students in grades 1-12, and collapsed about 50 school funding…

Throughout the history of publicly-funded voucher programs--enacted and proposed--the impact on taxpayers has been a recurring issue. As the nation's longest-running program, the Milwaukee Parent Choice Program (MPCP) provides an important case study. The fiscal impact of Milwaukee's program has evolved in very significant ways over its 18-year…

In "Characteristics and Determinants of Teacher-Designed Pay for Performance Plans: Evidence from Texas' Governor's Educator Excellence Grant (GEEG) Program"--a paper presented at the February 2008 National Center on Performance Incentives research to policy conference--Lori Taylor, Matthew Springer, and Mark Ehlert describe the teacher…