Christian Barnard
Assistant Director of Education Reform, Reason Foundation
Christian Barnard is assistant director of education reform at Reason Foundation.
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Assessing the fiscal impact of the Montana Academic Prosperity Program for Scholars
Montana House Bill 320 would allow the use of tax credits to fund students’ scholarships for private school tuition or other educational expenses.
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Fiscal Analysis: How Arkansas’ Education Freedom Account program is impacting taxpayers and students
By adopting the Education Freedom Account program, Arkansas became the 11th state in the nation to adopt a universal school choice initiative.
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Public school closures were on the upswing in 2024
In the 15 states examined, public school closures increased in 2023-24.
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Virginia’s K-12 funding system needs an overhaul, not tweaks
Virginia can do better by its students, but that requires ripping off the band-aid and pursuing a comprehensive school finance overhaul.
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Arkansas K-12 education finance series: How to improve the state’s school funding system
Arkansas is in a good position to build on recent K-12 reform successes and pursue comprehensive school finance reform in the coming year.
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Arkansas K-12 education finance series: Teacher pay before and after the 2023 LEARNS Act
The LEARNS Act will have a substantial impact on the state’s school finance system moving forward.
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California Proposition 2 would issue $10 billion in public education facilities bonds
Proposition 2 allows the state to issue $10 billion in general obligation bonds for the construction, improvement, and repair of educational facilities statewide.
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Arkansas K-12 education finance series: Adequacy review findings and recommendations so far
A 2007 Arkansas Supreme Court ruling mandates that the legislature must regularly review the adequacy of the state’s K-12 funding system.
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The cost of state hold harmless policies in K-12 education
With widespread public school enrollment losses in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the financial costs of some hold harmless policies have increased exponentially.
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Arkansas K-12 education finance series: How Arkansas schools are funded
While education funding in every state is complex, Arkansas enjoys a relatively streamlined and straightforward funding system.
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How the Louisiana GATOR Scholarship ESA bill could impact students and taxpayers
House Bill 745 would enable all Louisiana families to choose and customize their child’s education.
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Mississippi’s INSPIRE Act would upgrade the state’s school finance system
The proposal would improve funding fairness and better target education dollars to higher-need students.
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The key to improving California’s public schools isn’t more money
California’s inflation-adjusted K-12 education funding grew from $12,471 per student in 2002 to $16,934 per student in 2020, a 35.8% growth rate ranked ninth highest in the United States.
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Public education at a crossroads: A comprehensive look at K-12 resources and outcomes
Examining key education spending, enrollment, staffing, and student performance data over the past two decades in all 50 states.
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Public education at a crossroads: K-12 education revenue and expenditure trends 2002-2020
Nationwide, inflation-adjusted public school revenues grew from $12,852 per student in 2002 to $16,065 per student in 2020.
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Public education at a crossroads: Enrollment, staffing, and teacher salary trends 2002-2020
Nationwide, inflation-adjusted average teacher salaries fell by 0.6% between 2002 and 2020 with a total of 26 states seeing declines.
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Public education at a crossroads: Math and reading outcomes (low-income students only)
Between 2003 and 2019, the average U.S. 4th grade NAEP math score for free and reduced-price lunch eligible students increased by seven points.
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Public education at a crossroads: Math and reading outcomes (all students)
Between 2003 and 2019, the average U.S. 8th-grade NAEP reading score was flat. The average 8th-grade NAEP math score increased by four points.
