Reason Foundation

Recent Research and Commentary

A Sea Change for School Funding in America

October 21, 2011, 12:49pm

Lisa Snell

New Orleans: Most Market-Driven School District in Nation Increases Test Scores Again

May 26, 2011, 3:31pm

Lisa Snell

School Choice, Charter Schools, and Trends In Educational Privatization

Education Chapter of Annual Privatization Report 2010

February 15, 2011

Lisa Snell, Leonard Gilroy

This section of Reason Foundation's Annual Privatization Report 2010 provides a comprehensive overview of the latest on school choice, charter schools, voucher and tax credit programs, and other news from the education sector. Topics include:

• School Voucher and Tax Credit Programs Expand in 2010
• 2010 Voucher and Tax Credit Student Outcome Data
• Special Education Vouchers Improve Outcomes for Special Needs Students
• School Choice Saves Tax Dollars
• Charter Schools Save Tax Dollars
• Charter Schools Enjoy Increasing Market Share
• 2010 Charter School Achievement Data
• New Orleans: The Most Market-Driven School System in the United States
• Public Schools Continue to Use Outsourcing to Cope with Tight Budgets
• Universities Consider School Privatization

Student-Based Budgeting One Possible Upside to $578 Million Los Angeles High School

September 13, 2010, 10:45am

Lisa Snell

As the nation's most expensive public school opens in Los Angeles today at $578 million or more than $140,000 per student there is one ironic silver lining: the six academies at the school are part of Los Angeles Unified's Transparent Budgeting Project which is embracing student-based budgeting and giving local schools autonomy over budget and curriculum. So while the capital costs at the school site are ridiculous, moving forward maybe the student-centered funding will help principals at the school budget for higher student achievement.

Where Did the Money Go? An Analysis of Spending and Revenue in Nebraska and Surrounding States, 2002-2008

August 3, 2010

Adam Summers, Leonard Gilroy, Lisa Snell

Nebraska, like many states, is facing a significant fiscal crunch in the face of the recession and ongoing economic downturn. Its budget deficit is estimated at $679 million—about 10 percent of the two-year budget. The state received a temporary reprieve this year from Washington, D.C.—and taxpayers from across the nation—in the form of $250.6 million in federal stimulus funds, which were primarily used to help pay Medicaid and state public education costs. But that money will not be available next year. Legislative leaders have indicated that they intend to make up the difference through spending cuts, and not tax or fee increases.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to look back over recent years to determine where the state’s money came from and where it went, and second, to offer a number of budget reform recommendations to help Nebraska balance the state budget while maintaining quality-of-life priorities for its citizens.

Fix the Schools:
Reason Saves Cleveland With Drew Carey

Episode 2

March 15, 2010

The Cleveland Municipal School District spends over $14,000 per student. Yet only 54 percent of students graduate from high school and the district is failing to meet 27 out of 30 Ohio performance standards.

“Your choice is go to a Catholic school or get the hell out of town and raise your kids somewhere else. That’s not much of a choice at all,” Carey says in the Reason.tv video. “It would be best for the parents and families to have a choice to send their kids where they want. Make the schools compete against each other.”

Reason Foundation’s new policy brief, Ten Ideas to Fix Cleveland’s Schools, calls for turning all failing schools into charter schools, giving principals complete control over school budgets and “backpack” funding that follows kids to the school of their parents’ choice.

Ten Ideas to Fix Cleveland's Schools by Lisa Snell

Policy Brief: Fix the Schools by Lisa Snell

More Reason Saves Cleveland With Drew Carey Videos

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