Resources

Resources

• Leadership Insider, May 2005 [PDF 468,918kb]
  In this issue: School finance and funding adequacy.
  
• Leadership Insider, January 2004 [PDF 560,666kb]
  In this issue: Education foundations and fundraising; how to start a school foundation.
  
• Money Matters: a Reporter's Guide to School Finance [PDF 926,160kb]
  A guide for understanding school finance issues, published in April 2003 by the Education Writers Association.
  
• Protecting Public Education From Tax Giveaways to Corporations
  January 2003 report by the National Education Association and Good Jobs First detailing the impact of property tax abatements and tax increment financing (TIF) on school budgets. Provides state-by-state information on policies, including degree to which school boards are allowed to take part in decisions affecting funding for schools.
  
• The Problems with Property Tax Revenue Caps
  June 2007 report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities detailing how property tax caps typically cannot change rising costs facing localities, over time are not offset by promised increases in state aid, may exacerbate inequities. Suggests alternative means of providing property tax relief. The Center “conducts research and analysis to inform public debates over proposed budget and tax policies and to help ensure that the needs of low-income families and individuals are considered in these debates.”
  
• National Access Network, Teachers College, Columbia University
  Online collection of national and state-by-state information on school finance systems, finance equity and adequacy litigation, and “costing-out” studies that attempt to establish a data-driven, instead of politically-driven, basis for school finance formulae. The mission of the National Access Network is “to promote meaningful educational opportunities for all children, especially those low-income and minority children currently being denied this opportunity.”
  
• Revenues and Expenditures by Public School Districts: School Year 2004-05
  This July 2007 report from the U.S. National Center for Education Statistics contains data on revenues and expenditures per pupil made by school districts for school year 2004-05, the last fiscal year for which this annual report has been published. Median per pupil revenue and expenditure data are reported by state, as well as values at the 5th and 95th percentiles. Data for charter schools are reported separately. There are also discussions on the different types of school districts, and other resources that may be helpful in analyzing school district level data. Revenues and expenditures for the 100 largest school districts are included, as well as federal revenues by program.
  
• Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education: School Year 2004-05 (Fiscal Year 2005)
  This April 2007 report from the U.S. National Center for Education Statistics contains basic revenue and expenditure data, by state, for public elementary and secondary education for school year 2004-05, the last fiscal year for which this annual report has been published. The report contains state-level data on revenues by source and expenditures by function, including expenditures per pupil.
  
• The Committee for Education Funding
  The Committee for Education Funding and its member organizations work toward the common goal of achieving adequate federal support for our nation's education system.
  
• The Condition of Education, 2003
  National Center for Education Statistics. This is an annual report providing data on 56 indicators. Download entire report, or download information on specific indicators below.
  
• No Small Change: Targeting Money Toward Student Performance
  Education Week’s Quality Counts 2005 report provides an overview of the legal, policy, and political issues and debates over public school funding in the U.S. The report includes details on how each state finances education.
  
• The National Center for Education Statistics' Education Finance Statistics Center (EDFIN)
  This program of the U.S. Department of Education compiles and reports voluminous data finance and expenditure data on public elementary and secondary education.
  
• The EdFin Public School District Finance Peer Search
  The Public School District Finance Peer Search tool provided by the Education Finance Statistics Center (EDFIN) permits you to compare the finances of a school district with its peers. Peer districts are districts which share similarities among such characteristics as total students; student teacher ratio; percent children in poverty; district type; and locale code. Aside from an automatic standard peer search, users can search for school districts by distance from a zip code, or can select school districts they wish to compare a school district to.
  
• Pennsylvania School Finance 101
  An online guide to school finance in Pennsylvania from the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
  
• American Education Finance Association
  The AEFA is “a non-profit professional and academic association representing a variety of disciplines, perspectives, and points of view” whose mission is “to promote understanding of means by which resources are generated, distributed and used to enhance human learning.”
  
• National Conference of State Legislatures, National Center on Education Finance
  Resources for state officials on school finance.
  
• Rural Education Finance Center
  REFC, a program of the Rural School and Community Trust, is “dedicated to improving educational opportunity for rural children by reducing inequities in state school finance systems, strengthening the fiscal practices of rural schools, and ensuring the adequacy of funding to rural schools.” This site provides resources on the funding of rural schools and the cost-effectiveness of small schools.