Aaron Garth Smith
Director of Education Reform, Reason Foundation
Aaron Garth Smith is the director of education reform at Reason Foundation.
Smith works extensively on education finance policy and his writing has appeared in numerous publications including Education Week, The Hill, Orange County Register, and Los Angeles Daily News.
Prior to joining Reason, Smith was senior director of analytics at YES Prep Public Charter Schools, a nationally-renowned charter management organization.
Aaron graduated from the University of Maine with a bachelor's degree in business administration and earned a Master of Business Administration from Mays Business School at Texas A&M University. He is based in Houston, Texas.
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Benefit costs, not school choice programs, are the real drain on public education spending
Benefit costs, not school choice programs, are draining new funding from K-12 public schools.
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K-12 Education Spending Spotlight: An in-depth look at school finance data and trends
Reason Foundation’s new K-12 Education Spending Spotlight provides critical insight into key school finance trends across the country by providing policymakers, researchers, and other stakeholders easy access to K-12 education spending data in every state.
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School choice programs aren’t draining public education funds
Spending on school choice programs pales in comparison to recent increases in employee and retiree benefit costs for education systems across the country.
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New Hampshire’s innovative program to let students learn everywhere
Education is more than just direct instruction and textbooks—learning can happen everywhere.
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As Schools Lose Students, They Shouldn’t Spend Stimulus Money on New Staff Positions
School districts, like LAUSD, should be looking at ways to spend these dollars to help students catch up without creating a fiscal cliff.
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Examining Student Transfer Data in Texas
Three percent of Texas students transferred to a school outside of their home district in the 2018-19 school year.
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Gov. Newsom’s Misguided Proposal for California’s Education Funding Formula
The key to promoting both flexibility and fairness is better transparency and California can do this with better data, not more bureaucracy.
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Oklahoma’s Outdated Education Funding System Is Costing Students Hundreds of Millions of Education Dollars Each Year
Education dollars should follow students to the school they are actually attending.
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Legislation in Arizona Would Pave the Way for Educational Innovation
Learning happens everywhere and it’s time for outdated education policies to reflect this.