School districts and state education systems across the country are in the midst of an increasingly challenging fiscal environment. In many states, funding for K-12 education remains below pre-recession levels in what has been called a "punishing decade for school funding" (Leachman et al., 2017), despite efforts in recent years to increase funding levels for the sector. Consequently, budget forecasts for school districts are increasingly grim, and many districts are being forced to make difficult decisions about how to leverage limited dollars to best meet the needs of students. As education expenses continue to outpace revenues -- often in ways that are outside of the general public's awareness -- school districts are experiencing a "Silent Recession" (Krausen & Willis, 2018), forcing many districts to make difficult decisions about how to maximize limited dollars to best meet the needs of students. This paper outlines a series of state-level strategies for helping districts to address these rising costs and strategically deploy resources to improve student outcomes. The strategies are drawn from a research and media review, as well as interviews with 20 state leaders, directors of regional education-focused nonprofits, and leading education researchers across 10 states. To provide context, the paper first outlines the external and internal factors contributing to increased education costs, as well as current trends in state-level funding distribution policy and practice. Next, it focuses on state-level resource allocation strategies in the following three key areas: (1) special education; (2) educator compensation and benefits; and (3) revenue generation. The review of research, media coverage, and interviews with district and state leaders indicated that these three areas were among the most influential factors currently affecting districts' fiscal stability.