The "Analysis of School Finances in New York State School Districts" is an annual publication providing a meaningful perspective to staff in the Division of the Budget, the Legislature, the Education Department, and school officials concerning school expenditures, State Aid, and local support. This edition of the Analysis summarizes the…

Strong public schools are the backbone of strong communities. A good public school system can be a city's biggest draw. An underperforming public school often marks a city's decline. Public education is perhaps the most crucial investment government can make. Although most Ohioans are educated in public schools, since the 1990s state policymakers…

In 2010, total student loan debt surpassed total credit card debt held by Americans. About two years later, total student debt broke the psychologically huge $1 trillion mark. These milestones brought to a boil long-simmering frustration with college price growth that has outstripped normal inflation, household income changes, and even…

This paper explores the role that state spending on higher education capital outlays plays in state budgets by considering the functional form of the relationship between state spending on higher education capital outlays and four types of state expenditures. Three possible functional forms are tested: a linear model, a quadratic model, and the…

This paper analyses the composition, distribution, and history of school funding in Australia through a spatial lens (Soja 2010). We explore multi-scalar school funding policy through three layers of economic maldistribution. We sketch the funding disparities between the three school sectors (public, Catholic, and independent) exposing a spatial…

The need for valid and reliable ways to assess developmental outcomes of preschool children becomes continually more acute as public investments in preschool education grow, with corresponding pressure for programs to demonstrate their ability to influence child outcomes. The authors conducted studies of one assessment widely used in Head Start…

The Catholic school system in the United States is undergoing significant changes in size, populations served and the funding models which have traditionally supported such schools. The closing of many schools in urban areas in the last 10 years in conjunction with the rising costs of schooling suggests that unless a new approach to funding…

California is fortunate to be the 5th largest economy in the world with an abundance of resources and diverse talent. Among those resources are our state colleges, which are not only premier institutions, but they are also changing lives and communities. Access to financial aid is critical for low-income students and students of color who want to…

Social programs and mandates are usually studied in isolation even though they often interact closely with each other. Given the immense recent changes to health insurance systems, there is much potential for spillover effects to other systems in which health plays a large role. In this study, we examine how health insurance interacts with…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the main federal statute governing special education and early intervention services for children with disabilities from birth through age 21.1 IDEA consists of four parts. Part A contains general provisions, including the purposes of the act and definitions. Part B contains provisions…

A country's productivity and economic competitiveness rely upon education, specifically postsecondary training which is fundamental to students' upward mobility in a thriving and progressive economic culture (Haunshek & Woessmann, 2012; Bailey et al., 2015). In order to maintain the economic stability of the United States for future…

This memo estimates the cost of two possible program designs for a statewide college scholarship program for the State of Illinois. These assumptions and associated cost estimates, once approved or revised, will form the basis for the next stage of this project, which is assessing the economic impact of tuition-free college in Illinois. [This…

As educators across the country make a valiant effort to meet the needs of their students in response to the coronavirus crisis, the educational impacts of disparities in family resources and school funding are apparent. The crisis also reminds us of the many roles that schools play beyond academics. When students eventually return to school, will…

It has become increasingly difficult to succeed in the U.S. workforce with only a high school diploma. While 75% of the middle-class workforce had only a high school education in the 1970s, that percentage dropped to below 40% by 2007. An estimated two-thirds of all jobs in 2020 will require some postsecondary training, up from just a quarter of…

This brief describes the types of college promises that exist in the state of California. In doing so, we summarize existing research on this topic. Furthermore, we provide a framework to study the California Promise Program in community colleges in California. We use publicly available data to highlight key aspects of our proposed framework: What…