Improving equity of education funding is a key to addressing social injustices in education. Weighted student funding systems are a relatively novel approach a number of large urban and suburban districts have used to try to improve the equity of school funding. In a weighted student funding (WSF) system, the dollars distributed to schools are…

Every five years, all public school educators in Maryland are required to renew their licenses to teach. This process is meant to ensure that teachers maintain competent practice and engage in career-long learning, development, and growth. Given the ambiguous relationship between licensure renewal and teacher effectiveness in the classroom--and…

This Policy Brief begins by reviewing the educational and societal impacts of quality pre-K programs before revealing legislative changes to state pre-K funding in 2017-18. The brief highlights four states and breaks down total pre-K funding for all states, including year-over-year changes.

The outlook for high school graduates who have no postsecondary or industry-recognized credentials can appear bleak. Today, it is critical that young people obtain at least some training beyond high school to succeed in the job market. States bear a cost, too, when this is not achieved: They have a less skilled workforce to attract business…

In 2016, Maryland adopted the Broadening Options and Opportunities for Students Today (BOOST) voucher program that helps pay K-12 private school expenses for low-income households. BOOST vouchers target low-income families. Funds are available to public school students as well as children in private schools and homeschools who qualify for free or…

States and districts allocate hundreds of billions of dollars annually to fund K-12 schools, and this allocation is largely driven by one calculation: how states count student enrollment. They do this in one of five ways: (1) A single count on a single day; (2) Two counts twice per year; (3) Multiple counts over a period of time; (4) An attendance…

The notion that the U.S. has a growing skills gap -- the difference between what employers need to fill in-demand positions and the skill of the current workforce -- is a hot topic among policymakers. By 2020, 65 percent of jobs will require postsecondary education and training beyond high school, according to the Georgetown University Center on…

As the early education coordinator for Prince George's County Public Schools, Judith P. Hoyer lamented the gaps in available services for low-income families. In the 1990s, she created a central location in Adelphi, Maryland, for important early childhood services, thus fostering cooperation of governmental and private agencies around the needs of…

The Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) is a major source of economic activity within the County with these benefits extending across the State of Maryland. These economic benefits result from MCPS's annual expenditures for new facilities, its outlays for repairs and maintenance, and its spending in support of program and facility operations.…

Michigan's K-12 education system has arguably never truly supported all students to reach their full potential and prepare them for post-secondary opportunities and success. Instead, Michigan's education system has served as an engine of inequality when it should be providing opportunities for all kids to learn. Now is a critical time to address…

In February 2015 a large group of scholars, researchers, and practitioners interested in P-20 finance issues gathered in St. Louis, Missouri, for the National Education Finance Academy's annual conference, on February 25-27, 2015 to discuss, among multiple topics, the state of P-20 finance in all 50 states. There were 35 states represented in the…

One of the key priorities for the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is alignment and conformity across different federal and state systems. ESSA gives states the flexibility to hold schools accountable, measure student outcomes, and provide supports and technical assistance in a way that is aligned with their own priorities. States are encouraged…

As states have begun to fully implement reverse transfer policies, their reported student-level outcomes data varies widely. Given the infancy of most reverse transfer policy, it is premature to pinpoint any single state action that has served to accelerate or hinder successful degree conferrals. However, taking a deeper look at exemplar state…

Every year millions of children under the age of 5 participate in federal and state early care and education programs. For fiscal years 2010 to 2015, Congress appropriated almost $48 billion to Head Start and over $31 billion to the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), the two largest sources of federal funding for early care and education. To…

In November 1996, the voters of Montgomery County (Maryland) approved by referendum an amendment to the County Charter that changed the County Council's review and approval cycle of the six-year Capital Improvements Program (CIP) from an annual to biennial cycle. The referendum specified that in odd-numbered fiscal years (on-years) the County…