Aaron Garth Smith
Director of Education Reform, Reason Foundation
Aaron Garth Smith is the director of education reform at Reason Foundation.
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What will public schools do when federal pandemic relief funding runs out?
Pre-pandemic trends offer clues of how this might play out across state capitals.
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Arizona K-12 Funding Reform Model
Arizona’s K-12 funding system is broken, but gaping differences in funding levels aren’t the only problem—it wasn’t designed to support an education ecosystem with robust school choice for families.
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Data shows financial incentives matter for K-12 open enrollment policies
If school districts do not receive sufficient funding for transfer students, they’re not going to be as willing to participate in an open enrollment program.
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Open enrollment policies don’t have to affect student athletics
There are a variety of ways states can handle student athletic eligibility questions that can arise when implementing open enrollment policies.
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California needs school choice
There are also policy options outside of the typical school choice agenda that could provide more education options to California’s families.
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Public school vouchers could increase education competition
Eliminating residential assignments and putting parents in charge of funding would give all families more agency over their students' education.
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Biden doubles down on Title I funding increase in 2023 budget proposal despite program’s poor record
The administration wants to double the funding for a federal program that has failed in its aim to close achievement gaps between low-income and higher-income students.
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South Carolina’s proposed education funding reform would benefit students and taxpayers
Gov. McMaster’s 2022 budget outlines a plan to simplify how the $5.4 billion in state education funding is spent.
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Making Tennessee’s school finance system more transparent, flexible and fair
Only three percent of Tennessee's education funding was allocated based on student characteristics like being in a low income family, being in foster care, or needing special education services.
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Public education needs the private sector
A significant portion of the $751.7 billion spent annually on K–12 education is used to purchase non-public goods and services.
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New York school spending hits record high
New York spends $30,772 per student each year.
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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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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.