Christian Barnard is assistant director of education reform at Reason Foundation.
Barnard's work includes research and analysis of state education and school district finance systems, with the goal of making them more equitable and innovative.
Barnard's writing has been featured in outlets including USA Today, Los Angeles Daily News, Washington Times, and The Hill, among others.
Barnard previously worked with the Foundation for Government Accountability, where he conducted research on labor policy and criminal justice. He also worked for the Pioneer Institute.
He holds a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy and economics from Messiah College.
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The needed push to reform Tennessee’s outdated school finance system
Tennessee has an outdated school funding formula that is poorly suited to serve the needs of the state’s public-school students in 2022.
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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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Idaho State Sen. Steven Thayn explains the success of state’s Advanced Opportunities program
A conversation between Christian Barnard and State Sen. Steven Thayn on Idaho's Advanced Opportunities student funding program.
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K-12 funding in Tennessee: A student-centered approach
By adopting a student-centered funding model, Tennessee would replace the state's outdated education finance system that lacks transparency and local control.
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Best practices for K-12 special education funding
There is no one right way to fund special education because each student and school district is unique. However, several principles can be a useful guide for lawmakers looking to improve how they fund special education students.
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Best practices for funding low-income K-12 students
States vary substantially in how much additional funding they allocate to low-income students, how the funds are delivered, and how they identify low-income students.
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California’s public schools are not underfunded
Inflation-adjusted education spending in California grew by a massive 44.03% between 2013 and 2019—the fastest growth among any state.
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Administrative bloat isn’t the biggest problem facing school district budgets
Growing employee benefit debt costs - not administrative spending - is the biggest line item keeping new education dollars out of the classroom.
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Catholic schools get shortchanged by California and school districts
Federal law says that private schools serving disadvantaged students should receive some federal education funding, but they don’t always get it.