The U.S. Department of Education made recent technical changes reducing eligibility for the Rural and Low-Income School Program. Given smaller budgets and lower economies of scale, rural districts may be less able to absorb short-term funding cuts and experience stronger negative achievement effects. Kansas implemented a state-level finance change…

This paper explores educational financial flexibility with a focus on the specific issues surrounding local flexibility in North Carolina school districts. Strategies that states have used to increase local financial flexibility include waivers, reduction of budget categories, block grants, and school-based budgeting. The North Carolina system of…