Education Finance Volatility

This study examines whether state school finance reforms increase district budget volatility by shifting reliance from stable property taxes to erratic state revenues and provides the first nationwide description of how education finance volatility varies across states, districts, and revenue and spending categories. The researchers use a two-stage instrumental variable model and a deviation from […]

The Impact of School Facility Finance Reforms on the Level and Distribution of Facility Spending

This study provides causal evidence on how diverse state school facility finance reforms, such as fully state-funded systems or matching grants, perform in practice to improve equity and adequacy in school infrastructure. The researchers use a stacked event-study design to analyze a new multi-state panel dataset on capital expenditures and facility policies covering 1986–2022. This […]

State Capital Funding Structures, Equity, and Policy Design for Public School Facilities

This study evaluates how states can design capital funding systems, including grants and bond authorization rules, to better align resources with facility needs in disadvantaged communities. The researchers will develop a fifty-state typology and conduct in-depth case studies in ten states, analyzing original data on actual funding flows and local bond elections. This work moves […]

Facilitating Research on Universal School Choice Programs and Their Implications for Public School Funding

This study investigates the rapid expansion of universal school choice programs, including ESAs and vouchers, and its implications for the equity and stability of school funding. The project involves data collection and policy landscape mapping across states with universal choice, drawing on publicly available reports of how program funds have been distributed geographically. This study […]

How State English Learner Funding Policy Shapes District Leaders’ Resource Allocation: A Cross-State Comparative Study

This study examines how varied state English Learners (EL) funding models, including flat weights, tiered systems, and resource-based allocations, shape local resource decisions and conceptions of adequacy. The research uses a cross-state comparative qualitative approach featuring semi-structured interviews with state and district leaders in Michigan, Texas, Massachusetts, and Delaware. The study will generate the first […]

Formula Incentives and Dual Language Program Adoption: Evidence from Texas

This study investigates how state funding incentives introduced by Texas House Bill 3 (HB3) shape district adoption of dual language immersion (DLI) programs and subsequent resource allocation. The research team will apply a difference-in-discontinuities framework at the “Rule of 20” English Learner (EL) student threshold and a staggered difference-in-differences design using twelve years of Texas […]