Aaron Garth Smith
Director of Education Reform, Reason Foundation
Aaron Garth Smith is the director of education reform at Reason Foundation.
-
Planning For Potential Budget Cutbacks In Michigan: Sustainable School Finance Solutions
Even in a constrained fiscal environment, Michigan can improve education funding equity and better empower local school leaders.
-
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.
-
Infographic — Idaho School Finance: How It Works and How to Improve the System
Idaho should streamline its education funding system into a weighted-student formula that allocates dollars based on local students' needs.
-
Education Newsletter: School Finance During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Plus: Families considering homeschooling have a variety of options and curriculum choices, targeting education funding to disadvantaged students, and more.
-
Education Newsletter: SCOTUS Delivers a Huge Win For Kids, California’s Funding Plan Shortchanges Charter Schools, and More
Plus: How states can improve virtual education policies and adapt during the coronavirus pandemic, school funding models that promote equity, and more.
-
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.
-
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.
-
Education Newsletter: COVID-19 Increases Need for School Finance Reform, Identifying Student Poverty, and More
Plus: How education dollars are allocated, Vermont’s school funding model promotes equity, National School Lunch Program eligibility, and more.
-
How Michigan Can Avoid K-12 Budget Cuts Hurting the Highest-Need Students
Disadvantaged students — who are already the most vulnerable to economic uncertainty — shouldn’t also have to shoulder the most severe losses.
-
Education Newsletter: School Systems Adapt During Coronavirus Pandemic, Education Stimulus Money and More
Plus: When and how the U.S. should reopen schools, ensuring K-12 budget cuts don't hurt highest-need students, previewing the COVID-19 impact on state pension plans and more.
-
Three Ways to Ensure Education Funding Reaches the Students Who Need It Most
Three principles to guide education and stimulus spending during the coronavirus pandemic.
-
Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Federal K-12 Education Stimulus Spending of 2009
As the coronavirus pandemic continues and Congress considers another relief and stimulus bill, the lessons of past stimulus bills should inform spending and policy decisions.
-
California’s Local Control Funding Formula Provides a Model For K-12 School Finance Reform
As a result of reforms, California districts now have considerable financial flexibility, and dollars are allocated more equitably.
-
Education Newsletter: Coronavirus and the Impact on Education Budgets, Homeschooling, and More
Plus: Charter school safety, Hawaii’s approach to education funding, teachers' pensions in Arkansas, and more.
-
The Economic Downturn Increases the Need to Reform School Finance Systems
Education has rapidly changed in the past two decades and school finance systems should be reformed to reflect these new dynamics.
-
Infographic: 3 Rules to Help School Finance Systems Impacted By Coronavirus
COVID-19 is prompting a harsh new fiscal reality for states and school districts. Here's what state and school district officials can do to adapt.
-
Education Newsletter: COVID-19’s Fallout For School Finance, Benefits of Open Enrollment, and More
Plus: How schools can best adapt during the coronavirus pandemic, and examining school finance in Arizona, South Carolina, and Indiana.
-
COVID-19’s Economic Fallout Wreaks Havoc on Education Budgets
Policymakers and schools need to start preparing now for a new fiscal reality.
