Study Calls for Tightly Tying School Funding to Strategic Goals

Washington

When school systems spend more money on wealthy students than they do on poor students, more money on electives than on core academic courses, and more on Advanced Placement program classes than on remedial instruction, the education finance system is out of kilter.

That’s the conclusion of a team of researchers who recently wrapped up findings from a six-year, $6 million investigation of the federal, state, and local mechanisms that guide spending for the nation’s 97,000 K-12 schools. The group’s final report, which also outlines a package of bold steps policymakers should take to remake current school finance systems, was released at a Dec. 1 conference at the Brookings Institution, a think tank based here.

Financed with an initial grant from the Seattle-based Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the School Finance Redesign Project draws on 30 research projects at universities across the country. (The Gates Foundation also provides support for Education Week ’s annual Diplomas Count ...