School Finance Adequacy at a Crossroads

By Allan Odden & Lawrence O. Picus

In the 1990s, when “school finance adequacy” began to dominate discussions about school funding, the idea seemed promising. This straightforward way of approaching the subject called for states, as they began to develop curriculum content and student-performance standards, to identify the financial resources needed to get students to meet those standards. Dozens of adequacy studies were conducted across the country. They produced encouraging results and showed potential for moving practice forward. The studies so far have had limited impact on state policy and, in the process, two dueling camps have engaged in an increasingly intense debate over how to measure and fund an adequate education.

One camp—which we call adequacy advocates, and which includes those using the “professional judgment” approach to school finance adequacy—argues that adequately funding schools will cost billions more, even in states like Connecticut and New York that currently spend far above the national average. Yet, when states hike school funding, these adequacy advocates return immediately to court, seeking more money. A second camp—which we call adequacy critics—argues that school funding issues have no place in the nation’s courts, and that there is little science to school-finance-adequacy analyses.

So what to do? We take a middle road. Our approach is twofold: First, we review the evidence from research and best practice on what programs work in education; and second, we study schools and districts that have dramatically increased the level of student performance over a...