In 2022, Tennessee overhauled its education funding formula to improve outcomes for the 1 million students in the state. The Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement Act (TISA) was designed to simplify the existing funding formula and more equitably allocate resources to schools. Bellwether's case study, "After the Policy Win: First-Year…

The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) entitles students with disabilities to a free appropriate public education. Students with disabilities often require additional support to enable them to achieve academic and functional goals relative to their nondisabled peers. These legally protected supports and services all add up…

Funding public higher education has long been a shared responsibility between state, local, and federal governments and students and their families (Laderman et al., 2023). While state and local governments fund public institutions directly, the federal government primarily funds higher education through portable student aid, including federal…

Oregon Revised Statute (ORS) 327.016 directs the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) to prepare and publish by June 30 of each year an annual report related to the State School Fund moneys received for English language learner programs and student outcomes. The Annual Reports for English Learners (ELs) in Oregon for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 school…

Under Section 115.996, Wisconsin Statutes, the state superintendent is required to report to the legislature on the status of bilingual-bicultural education programs funded under this authority. This report provides the specific information required by law for the 2023-24 school year (paid during FY 2025). Chapter 115, Subchapter VII, Wisconsin…

This paper asks whether increasing public school funding can be an effective long-run crime-prevention strategy in the U.S. Specifically, we examine the effect of increases in funding early in children's lives on the likelihood that they are arrested as adults. We exploit quasi-experimental variation in public school funding, leveraging two…

Possibly the defining feature of K-12 policy reform over the past several decades has been the growth of state-level decision-making. This, however, comes at a steep cost: Different communities are less able to make different decisions about their schools. This leads to a level of standardization that ill fits American pluralism. States should…

State financial aid grant programs are commonly categorized as either need-based, merit-based, or both, but their initial eligibility requirements include many more factors than just financial need and academic merit. A categorization of programs that accounts for all requirements would facilitate a more nuanced and precise understanding of state…

Community colleges in the United States continue to face financial difficulties related to declining enrollment numbers and lower levels of public funding when compared to four-year institutions. Previous scholars have suggested that community colleges may respond to these financial challenges by increasing their commitment to online education. In…

This study uses fixed effects panel data to analyze state performance-based funding (PBF) in place beginning in the 2009 fiscal year on associate degree completion rates for students of color from 2009 through 2017, using 868 matched state institution IPEDS completion datasets. Several well-documented effects on completion are introduced as…

The purpose of this report is to provide readers with a comparative analysis of the Massachusetts workforce "system" structures and performance reporting processes compared to other states. Though the federal workforce development system is often examined in its entirety and individual state systems are at times examined independently,…

This fact sheet focuses on how adult students in Michigan are accessing, affording, and completing postsecondary credentials. Adult learners are adult individuals, often considered to be aged 25+, who return to education, often at the high school and undergraduate levels. [This fact sheet was prepared with the Michigan Center for Adult College…

The prevalence of educator shortages has long been a topic of research and policy discussions in Illinois. Across multiple years, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) and Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools (IARSS) have collected data and reported on the magnitude, severity, and impact of shortages statewide. Prior…

Immigrants and their children are a vital part of Connecticut's present and its future. Comprising 15 percent of the state's residents, immigrants have driven all population and workforce growth over the last decade and a half. In addition, about 30 percent of Connecticut children are part of immigrant families. Most immigrants in the state, as in…

Each year, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) provides a tuition and fees report based on charges approved by boards of visitors at Virginia public institutions. The report includes a list of tuition and fee charges to in-state and out-of-state students and for undergraduate and graduate programs. It also provides trends…