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AL.com, 4/21/16

Alabama lawmakers approve largest education budget since recession

The Alabama Legislature today overwhelmingly passed the state’s largest education budget and largest pay raise for school employees since the Great Recession…Poole said strong components in the budget include the pay raises for K-12 and community college employees, increases in the Foundation Program, which funds basic operations for school systems, and a boost in funding for school technology that includes federal matching dollars.

Education Law Center and Rutgers University, 3/1/16

Is School Funding Fair? A National Report Card

The National Report Card (NRC) evaluates and compares the extent to which state finance systems ensure equality of educational opportunity for all children, regardless of background, family income, place of residence, or school location. It is designed to provide information to better understand the fairness of existing state school finance systems and how resources are allocated so problems can be identified and solutions developed.

Miami Herald, 12/4/15

Florida Senate exploring alternative ways to boost dollars for K-12 education

The chairman in charge of crafting the Senate’s education budget proposal signaled again Thursday that Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s plan to increase K-12 education dollars primarily off the checkbooks of local taxpayers isn’t going to fly. Scott aims to boost funding for K-12 schools by more than $500 million. But only $80 million of that is extra state money, while $427.3 million — 85 percent — would come from rebounding property taxes.

Bellwether Education Partners, 2/12/16

Blog: Five finance tips for states on school funding

School finance policy isn’t simple. But it is arguably the most important policy debate in state houses. Lawmakers must act with the guiding principles of equity and flexibility front and center to build the foundation on which system of schools that serves children well can thrive. As states deal with these big funding questions, this blog offers five things to consider.

Michigan Live, 2/1/16

Op-Ed: Why Detroit schools are crumbling – look at state’s funding foundation

The facade of equality collapses, however, when one realizes that Michigan funds only part of local school districts’ expenses. Crucially, Michigan provides zero funds for building new school facilities, or for improving or maintaining older schools. Whenever a district needs to replace or refurbish an aging school building, it must raise the funds itself. And as a practical matter, Michigan provides school districts just one way to pay for physical infrastructure: through local property taxes.

The Brown Center Chalkboard, 4/27/16

Blog: More equitable spending on its way regardless of rulemaking

By Marguerite Roza, Ph.D., Director of the Edunomics Lab and Research Professor at Georgetown University – For more than a decade, the federal government has required districts to report student outcomes by school. Spending was the missing piece. The new federal ESSA rights that wrong and will require districts to account for school-by-school spending and publicly report it. When the spending data are daylighted, the evidence will be clear that many districts have hardwired systematic spending inequities in their operations.