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School Funding

Learn more about how K-12 schools and districts raise money, set budgets, and spend funds
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School & District Management 69´«Ã½ Take a $3 Billion Hit From the Culture Wars. Here’s How It Breaks Down
Culturally divisive conflicts in schools have led to increased legal and security costs, as well as staff time spent on the fallout.
Caitlynn Peetz, October 30, 2024
4 min read
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Budget & Finance From Our Research Center The 'Zero-Sum Game' of School Budgets and Teacher Pensions
Pensions represent a rising cost, but many school district administrators don't understand how they work.
Mark Lieberman, October 29, 2024
5 min read
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School & District Management How the Culture Wars Are Costing 69´«Ã½ Billions
69´«Ã½ have increasingly been at the center of conflict in recent years, and it takes a financial toll. A new analysis quantifies it.
Caitlynn Peetz, October 23, 2024
5 min read
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They Don’t Know What They Don’t Know
A new study suggests that policymakers have limited knowledge about the impact of teacher pension expenses on school district budgets...
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Budget & Finance ‘Money Matters. Now What?’: How Districts Get More Funding for Poor 69´«Ã½
Targeting more funding to students who are most in need has a measurable effect on their academic performance, according to new research.
Mark Lieberman, October 14, 2024
7 min read
Illustration of a person holding a bag of money with a hole in it, where coins are falling out, with a chart behind showing loss.
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School Choice & Charters How Private School Choice Complicates Public School Budgets
Districts are seeing higher costs and fuzzier enrollment projections as more states give parents public funds for private education.
Mark Lieberman, September 16, 2024
12 min read
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DigitalVision Vectors
States Some School Workers Now Get Unemployment Over the Summer. Here's How It Works
Districts are scrambling as some states now allow non-instructional school employees to collect summer unemployment checks.
Mark Lieberman, August 13, 2024
9 min read
illustration of a pair of glasses with a dollar sign in one lense and a clock in the other lense.
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Budget & Finance Racing to Spend Aid for Homeless 69´«Ã½, 69´«Ã½ Get Creative
69´«Ã½ received a surge of homeless-student during the pandemic. Districts have to choose carefully in spending what's left of their cut.
Evie Blad, August 6, 2024
4 min read
Yellow electric school bus plugged in at a charging station.
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Budget & Finance Why Some Districts Rejected Cash to Buy Electric Buses—And Others Want More
A handful of federal programs have been key to accelerating the adoption of electric school buses.
Mark Lieberman, July 8, 2024
5 min read
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School & District Management ‘Be Vocal Without Being Vicious’: Superintendents on Fighting for More Funding
Two superintendents talk about stepping into the political realm to call for more public school funding.
Caitlynn Peetz, July 5, 2024
5 min read
Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde delivers her breakthrough year address to those gathered for the 2024 Dallas ISD State of the District dinner at the Omni Dallas Hotel, April 4, 2024.
Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde delivers her breakthrough-year address to those gathered for the Dallas school district's State of the District dinner at the Omni Dallas Hotel in April.
The Dallas Morning News via TNS
School & District Management Superintendents Are Calling Out Politicians More as Budgets Grow Precarious
Superintendents are traditionally hesitant to engage in political debate. That's changing as budget gaps grow.
Caitlynn Peetz, July 2, 2024
7 min read
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School & District Management Teacher Layoffs on the Horizon: As ESSER Expires, Districts Face Tough Calls
The Great Recession offers some insight into how staff reductions might play out as ESSER funds expire.
Caitlynn Peetz, June 27, 2024
4 min read
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Budget & Finance Some Districts Charge for School Bus Rides—If They Offer Transportation at All
Transportation charges are rarely scrutinized, but advocates say they're an equity issue.
Mark Lieberman, June 25, 2024
4 min read
Fourth-grader Sammiayah Thompson, left, and her brother third-grader Nehemiah Thompson work outside in their yard on laptops provided by their school system for distant learning, in Hartford, Conn., on June 5, 2020.
Fourth-grader Sammiayah Thompson, left, and her brother third-grader Nehemiah Thompson work outside in their yard on laptops provided by their school system for distance learning, in Hartford, Conn., on June 5, 2020. Some districts kept virtual programs as an option after schools reopened, but many of those are now considering cuts to them as budgets tighten.
Jessica Hill/AP
School & District Management Districts’ Virtual Programs Are on the Chopping Block as ESSER Ends
Although usually small in enrollment, virtual programs have been an important option for some students.
Caitlynn Peetz, June 25, 2024
6 min read