Aaron Garth Smith
Director of Education Reform, Reason Foundation
Aaron Garth Smith is the director of education reform at Reason Foundation, a nonprofit think tank advancing free minds and free markets.
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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Give Principals Authority They Need to Align School Spending With Student Priorities
Empowering school leaders to decide how resources are prioritized at their schools can help bring parents into the process, better support teachers and, most importantly, deliver the high-quality education that all of Providence’s students deserve.
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Center for Student-Based Budgeting Newsletter, September 2019
Reforming North Carolina's outdated funding system, better ways exist to help California's teachers save for retirement, and more.
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How the Focus on Ferguson, Missouri, Could Now Help Reform Public Education Funding
District boundaries that systemically shortchange black communities such as Ferguson have no place in public education and it’s time to make them irrelevant.
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A Student-Centered Approach to School Finance That Benefits Every Child In North Carolina
Overhauling the state’s funding system would provide the foundation needed to unlock the potential of school leaders to maximize how and where education dollars are deployed.
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Center for Student-Based Budgeting Newsletter, July 2019
The 2019 Weighted Student Formula Yearbook highlights best practices and shares details on how 20 districts approach weighted-student funding.
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School Principals Should Have More Say In How Education Funding Is Spent
It’s time for state legislators and school district officials to recognize that principals know what’s best for students.
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Center for Student-Based Budgeting Newsletter, June 2019
Not all students welcome in some Texas public school districts, fixing Title I isn't good enough, and more.
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California Can Improve the Effectiveness of its Education Spending
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s budget plan now calls for $101.8 billion in education spending.
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Weighted-Student Formula Pilot Program In Federal Education Budget Could Have a Big Impact
The weighted-student funding pilot proposal has the potential to make education spending more fair for students, especially in low-income areas.