Notable Quotable
“The question of student-centered funding is not just an academic exercise. There are serious implications of this policy debate for students and their parents. Without tying funding to the student, schools have no flexibility or incentive to grow or recruit, there is not the transparency required for parents to know that their public school choices won’t hurt their children, and funding will continue to vary unfairly and widely depending on the ZIP code of the school.” —Matthew Joseph, Foundation for Excellence in Education
Student-Based Budgeting in the News
DeVos’ Proposal Would Put Schools in the Driver’s Seat
The proposed federal education budget would provide $50 million for up to 10 decentralized districts through the federal weighted-student funding pilot program.
Aaron Smith: Funding Inequities Should Alarm Everyone
A more effective school finance system that allocates funding based on students, rather than property wealth, would provide the foundation needed to implement robust open enrollment policies that put parents in control.
Examining Sen. Kamala Harris’ Plan to Give All Teachers Raises
Rather than advocating policies with a hefty price tag and ignoring the root causes of stagnant teacher salaries, education reformers should reimagine how teachers are paid and where support and office staff positions are truly needed.
Want Parents to Stop Cheating? Fix the Public Education System
Policymakers need to address funding disparities and give parents options that allow them to seek schools outside of their neighborhood schools.
Research and Resources Spotlight
Bringing Student-Centered Funding to South Carolina
South Carolina isn’t currently realizing the benefits of student-centered funding such as transparency, empowering local stakeholders, and fairness.
Charter Schools Are a Good Investment
Public charters schools are outperforming traditional public schools on measures of productivity for all eight cities evaluated.
Follow School Finance Groups and Experts on Twitter
Education Research Strategies @ERStrategies
Center on Reinventing Public Education @CRPE_UW
Afton Partners @aftonpartners
Edunomics Lab @EdunomicsLab
EdBuild @EdBuild
Reason Foundation @AaronGarthSmith
Allovue @AllovueBalance