Aaron Smith
Education Policy Analyst, Reason Foundation
Aaron Garth Smith is an education policy analyst at Reason Foundation, a nonprofit think tank advancing free minds and free markets.
Prior to joining Reason, Aaron was senior director of analytics at YES Prep Public Schools, a nationally renowned charter management organization serving nearly 10,000 students. At YES, Aaron was the founding member of the analytics department and oversaw research, state accountability, and data management. In 2012, he was selected by Texas Charter School Association to serve on the on the Accountability Policy Advisory Committee for the State of Texas where he worked with superintendents, business executives, and policy leaders to develop an accountability system that was implemented state-wide.
Aaron graduated from 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. Aaron is based in Houston, Texas.
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The Key School Finance Question: Are Dollars Allocated Based on Students?
The U.S. spends $634 billion annually on public education.
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Time to Make it Easier for Kids to Find the Right School
States such as California are adopting interdistrict transfer policies, which are supposed to help students enroll in schools across district boundaries. California's "District of Choice" program was given a passing grade by the state's LAO office.
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Using Property Taxes to Fund Public Schools Prompts Inequities
The most glaring problem with relying on property tax revenues to fund schools is that a child’s ZIP code can determine a school's resources.
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The Building Blocks for School Finance Reform in Texas
Moving away from a reliance on local property tax revenue, a comprehensive student-based budgeting program and choice can be the foundation of fundamental change in Texas.
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Seven Key Problems With Texas School Finance System That Should Be Fixed
As Texas attempts to revamp its school funding system, fixing these problems is vital.