Charter schools are semi-autonomous public schools that receive public funds. They operate under a written contract with a state, district, or other entity (referred to as an authorizer or sponsor). Charter school laws vary from state to state and often differ on several important factors, such as who may authorize charter schools, how authorizers…

In 2013, California enacted an ambitious school funding reform--the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). The LCFF fundamentally overhauled the state's prior K-12 education finance system, which studies found to be inequitable, irrational, and highly centralized. More than a decade after its enactment, a growing body of research indicates the LCFF…

For the past thirty years, Michigan has used Emergency Management (EM) and receiverships to solve city and school finance issues. The impact of these state intervention policies has been highly publicized and has led to institutional distrust among black citizens in urban communities --with the Flint water crisis standing out as the most infamous…

College enrollment has increased over the years but so has the cost. The total cost of attending college -- including tuition, room and board, necessary books and supplies, and more -- would be prohibitive for most students if not for financial aid. Yet, many students still cite financial barriers as the top reason for opting out of college.…

While recent research provides insights into how district and school leaders responded to the extraordinary disruptions created by the COVID-19 pandemic, less is known about the role of influential state-level education leaders during the crisis. In this paper, we draw on interviews with state leaders to examine their efforts to support students'…

States diverge widely when it comes to education funding choices, leading to substantial differences in how much states spend on schooling, the role of local versus state revenue sources, and relative differences among districts in funding levels. Prior studies have documented that Democratic party control of state governments appears to be…

Over the past decade, many states have embraced the "science of reading," an interdisciplinary body of research about what works and matters most in teaching students to read. In 2021, North Carolina passed the Excellent Public Schools Act to advance teachers' understanding and use of science of reading practices, and the state's…

Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) offer parents a publicly funded, government-authorized savings account they can draw on for certain K-12 educational expenses. As these programs have expanded in recent years, they have become a flashpoint in education policy debates. For some, ESAs are an extension of existing private school choice programs'…

Literacy is the key to success in school, to accessing high-quality career opportunities, and to ensuring that all citizens are informed, engaged, and able to contribute to decision-making processes. Unfortunately, too many students are denied the right to read and become literate individuals, and the majority of the nation's students are below…

State higher education governing agencies in the United States are uniquely positioned between the state government and public postsecondary sector. However, few studies have considered how this organizational characteristic influences these agencies' role in the policy process. The current study seeks to contribute to this gap in the literature…

All 50 US states have enacted mandates requiring insurers to cover autism-related services. We assessed whether and to what extent variation in generosity of state insurance mandates has been associated with rate of growth in the health workforce for children with autism spectrum disorder: including board-certified behavioral analysts, child…

As winter swept across the United States at the outset of 2018, ushering in the bitterest and bleakest days of the year, American teachers and their unions had little to celebrate. The first eight years of the decade had exacted a heavy toll, and still more trouble was lurking on the horizon. In the wake of the Great Recession, funding for public…

A national study of school counselor role and professional activities (Fan et al., 2019) was replicated using a West Virginia (WV) school counselor sample to determine if WV's unique context and state policies would reflect a difference in how counselors perceive their roles and conduct professional practices. The comparison between WV sample and…

Across all 50 states, there are different ways in which states allocate K-12 and special education funding to districts. Education Commission of the States has collected information on states' primary funding models, base per-student funding amounts, student attendance count methods, and funding for special education, English language learners,…

California approved a massive overhaul of its byzantine and unequal school finance system when the state Legislature passed and Governor Jerry Brown signed the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) in 2013. LCFF featured a new state finance model, but it was much more than a change in finance distribution formulas. It also provided districts with…