Vermont provides state-funded preK to all 3 to 5 year olds through a mixed-delivery system. This study describes the enrollment rates of children with different characteristics who enrolled in different types of preK programs in the first year of implementation (2016/17). Overall, these findings indicate higher proportions of higher-needs students…

Over the past few decades, public universities have faced significant declines in state funding per student. We investigate whether these declines affected the educational and research outcomes of these schools. We present evidence that declining funding induced public universities to shift toward tuition as their primary source of revenue.…

This study examines whether the different versions of the OBF policies in Indiana, Ohio, and Tennessee had an impact on student outcomes. Different from most previous studies, this study differentiates OBF 1.0 and OBF 2.0 policies and takes into account the variations in state appropriation that are tied to OBF 2.0 policies in examining the…

This study investigates the relationship between the academic achievement of all students and inadequate funding for English language learners in Colorado school districts. Several stochastic frontier analysis models were used in lieu of traditional production functions in order to achieve clearer estimates. The analyses detected only a few…

This report is a longevity, simulational study that looks at how the ratio of state support to local support effects the number of school districts that breaks the common school's funding formula which in turns effects the equity of distribution to the common schools. After nearly two decades of adequately supporting the funding formula, Oklahoma…

There is a widening college access gap in the United States. The ever-rising cost of higher education, coupled with diminished government financial support and growing income inequality, have put college out of reach for many at a critical juncture when postsecondary education is essential for enhancing career prospects. The situation has been…

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…

Higher education accountability measures for student success are becoming more linked to state funding of higher education. This multiple-case study was conducted to explore and describe institutional efforts at small- to medium-sized teaching focused universities in states with performance funding policies. Specifically, the perspectives of…

This paper examines the debate in the U.S. Senate over the reasons why state governments have decreased funding for higher education. One side believes that federal mandates on states to pay for Medicaid have forced them to reduce spending on higher education. The other side believes that states unwisely reduced taxes, which decreased their…

Using publically available data, states coded as "blue" based upon results from the 2004 presidential election were significantly higher in education funding than were states coded as "red." Students in blue states scored significantly higher on outcome measures of math and reading in grades four and eight in 2004 and 2007 than did students in red…

Vermont's Act 60 is arguably the most equitable school funding system in the nation. However, it is also one of the most controversial. The disputes are primarily focused on the recapture provision that sends excess revenues from property-rich towns to the state's education trust fund. After a 4-year implementation period, the system is now in its…

The ability of the Kentucky Educational Reform Act (KERA) to address both educational equality and financial equity in the Kentucky public education system is examined in this paper. Following an overview of the conditions that facilitated the act's passage in 1990, the next section discusses the philosophical background of the concepts of…

Over the years, the financial support given for operating Canadian schools has shifted from a community-based burden to a legislated provincial government responsibility. Between 1816 and 1846, the school system moved from a clerical operation to a publicly controlled operation. Provincial government monies were then made available, although not…

Act 34, the School Finance Act of 1983, was legislated in Arkansas to provide financial equity for all school districts. The comparison of school equity before and after the passage of the school finance law on 14 different measures is the purpose of this paper. Equity is measured for two different years: 1982-1983, the last year before passage of…

This report examines tax reform in Vermont. A unanimous state supreme court decision in 1997 ruled that the state's educational finance system was unconstitutional. In response to this ruling, the legislature passed a new statewide property-tax system with two tiers: a block grant of $5,010 per pupil and a guaranteed yield for spending above the…