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 dozens of outlets including National Review, The Hill, and Education Week.
Smith graduated from the University of Maine with a bachelor's degree in business administration and earned a Master of Business Administration from Texas A&M University.
He is based in Phoenix, Arizona.
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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Oklahoma’s Outdated Education Funding System Is Costing Students Hundreds of Millions of Education Dollars Each Year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.
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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.
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Idaho’s National Education Spending Ranking Does Not Tell the State’s Full School Funding Story
Policymakers would be wise to focus on fixing the state’s antiquated school funding formula before deciding to allocate additional education funds.
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Public School District Boundaries Are a Relic of The Past
State open enrollment education policies are in dire need of modernization.
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Do Texas Charter Schools Receive More Funding Than the State’s School Districts?
Charter schools receive about $813 less per pupil on average than traditional public schools, a discrepancy that is driven by facilities funding.
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How Should States Count Students to Calculate School Funding?
School finance systems should base education funding on current enrollment figures to best serve students and promote equity.
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Examining Legislation to Expand Open Enrollment in Arizona
Arizona lawmakers are looking to remove barriers preventing public school students from attending a school outside of their residentially assigned school district as well as more easily find transportation to their school of choice.
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Three Things Policymakers Can Do to Improve School Finance Systems Right Now
There are practical and prudent steps policymakers can take to help schools support kids in the coming school year.
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As Schools and Families Deal With COVID-19, California Needs to Let Education Funding Follow Kids to Their Schools
California is generously funding schools that lost students, while short-changing schools that are better serving families during the coronavirus pandemic.
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It Is Time to Fix Systemic Inequities in Education Funding
States and school systems must do away with the relationship between school funding and zip codes.