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Trends in the News

READ AFTON'S "TRENDS IN EDUCATION FINANCE"

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New Jersey Herald, 4/23/17

New Jersey school spending tough to compare

The Taxpayers Guide to Education Spending 2017 shows the myriad ways which school district numbers can be divided, with several categories of per pupil costs, including one labeled “actual per pupil costs.” But trying to compare district to district can be a daunting affair, even if the state does try to eliminate some variables, such as transportation costs, the amount of pension costs for local teachers paid by the district or even judgments against the school district. Click here for an interactive map of district per-pupil spending from NJ Spotlight.

Funding Equity Local Education Funding State Education Funding
Education Next, 4/11/17

Op-Ed: With new data, school finance is coming out of the dark ages

A sleeper provision in the Every Student Succeeds Act—come December 2018—will serve up a motherlode of never-before-available school-level financial data. If we seize the unprecedented opportunity this data offers, we will be better equipped to tackle some of education’s most pressing issues—like the need for greater equity and productivity—and help schools across the country do better for their students.

Federal Education Funding
WHIO-TV, 4/15/17

Panel: Indianapolis should close 3 of 7 public high schools

Most of the district lies in Center Township, where the population has fallen by 194,424 since 1950 while the population of the surrounding townships more than tripled. The report also cites enrollment growth at charter schools and at private schools, which have benefited from Indiana’s voucher program. One of the nation’s largest, the program enables parents to use public funds to send their children to non-public schools.

School Enrollment and Student Population
The Chronicle of Higher Education, 4/14/17

Incentives to attend private colleges could save states money and raise graduation rates

States could save money and increase college-graduation rates by providing modest financial incentives for students to choose private colleges over comparable public ones, according to a report released this week. The conclusion, which was quickly disputed by a group representing public colleges, comes at a time when a growing number of states are providing the opposite incentives.

Higher Ed
Education Next, 4/12/17

New blueprints for K–12 schools

Blended Learning uses school time in a unique way, combining online instruction with traditional methods and giving students more agency over how, when, and where they learn. That third variable, the “where,” calls for some serious rethinking of how school space is organized and deployed. In our architectural practice, we have found that design either supports or frustrates a school’s mission—it is never an “innocent bystander.”

Facility Planning
The Chronicle of Higher Education, 4/9/17

Commentary: Why universities and foundations should get together sooner

Much has been written about the broken business model of higher education, focusing on rising costs, ever-higher tuition, and mounting student debt. However, an increasingly important but rarely discussed issue is the weakening of the traditional partnership between universities (both public and private) and private philanthropic foundations.

Higher Ed