State funding formulas shape how much money school districts have to spend, but districts usually have considerable discretion with how they distribute funds to schools. Because of this discretion, even if districts receive funds through a highly equitable state system, there is no guarantee that districts will distribute funding equitably to…

The most terrible and lasting effects of the coronavirus pandemic will of course be measured in loss of life. But a parallel tragedy will also be unfolding in the coming months and years, this one affecting those at the beginning of their lives: an unprecedented school funding crisis that threatens to disadvantage a generation of children. School…

This report, submitted in compliance with 105 ILCS 5/1A-4E, provides a discussion of the overall condition of education in Illinois. Information is included concerning student and teacher demographics; data on teacher and administrator licensure; federal, state, and local resources; and other data on Illinois education. The 2021 Condition of…

State and local government employees provide critical services that citizens depend on every day including police and fire protection, roads and public transit systems, social services, public health and hospitals, and education services. The U.S. Census Bureau collects statistics on the nation's governments every five years in the Census of…

This past year has been unlike any in recent history. In March, the global COVID-19 pandemic forced Illinois to shift suddenly to remote learning for all students. This adjustment exposed the digital divide as a stark reality. One bright spot in the year occurred in May, when the Illinois' plan for career and technical education (CTE) received…

For more than 25 years the Public School Forum of North Carolina has isolated state and federal spending to examine the capacity and effort counties make to support their schools. The intent of the annual Local School Finance Study is not to blame counties for their effort to support schools, but to examine the capacity and actual effort the…

On June 8, News Corp., a media company owned by Rupert Murdoch, snatched two leading school district administrators to head its new education division. Peter Gorman, former superintendent of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg (N.C.) Schools, is the unit's new senior vice president, and Kristen Kane, the former chief operating officer of the New York City…

Like most other state and local government employees, teachers participate primarily in defined benefit pension plans whose benefits are largely based on final average salaries and length of service. Such pensions have been replaced in many private sector firms by defined contribution pensions. A number of questions have arisen about the…

This First Look report presents data on public elementary and secondary education revenues and expenditures at the local education agency (LEA) or school district level for fiscal year (FY) 2012.1. Specifically, this report includes findings from the following types of school finance data: (1) Revenue and expenditure totals by state and the 100…

This First Look report introduces new data for national and state-level public elementary and secondary revenues and expenditures for fiscal year (FY) 2012. Specifically, this report includes findings from the following types of school finance data: (1) Revenue and expenditure totals; (2) Revenues by source; (3) Expenditures by function and…

Despite significant increases in spending on child care and education during the last decade, PISA scores suggest that educational performance remains static, uneven and strongly related to parents' income and background. Better educational performance could improve labour market outcomes, raise growth, lower the consequences of a disadvantaged…

Supervision as understood in well-organized city systems has little resemblance to the annual visitation of schools as practiced by many county or other rural superintendents. The majority of these officers are fully conscious of the limitations imposed upon them by the conditions under which they work and they are active in their efforts to…

A recent United States Supreme Court Case, County of Washington v. Gunther, examined issues related to sex-based wage discrimination, as defined by federal statutes. The positions of the respondent and petitioner and majority and minority views of the court are presented. (PP)

This 1992 report places the education finance data released by the United States Census Bureau in a single report. It contains financial statistics relating to public higher, elementary-secondary and other education. It presents national and state financial aggregates and displays data for each public school system with an enrollment of 5,000 or…

Recommendations for action based on survey data, review and analysis of the literature, and personal experience are presented in this report from the Montgomery County (Maryland) Commission on Child Care. The report notes the community's concerns regarding the need for high quality early childhood programs and cites the linkages between wages,…