1. How States Protect Funding for K-12 Public Schools. State Profiles Index
- Author
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EdChoice, Hanover Research (HR), and Lueken, Martin F.
- Abstract
As current trends across the country indicate widespread declining student enrollment and attendance, EdChoice is interested in conducting an evaluation of state-level school funding and enrollment policies that protect public schools against reduced funding due to declining enrollment. To support this effort, EdChoice enlisted Hanover to conduct a preliminary policy scan to explore current funding practices at each state-level department of education across the United States. This report summarizes publicly available information for each of the 50 states regarding the role of enrollment in state funding formulas and state-level policies that may reduce the impact of declining enrollment on education funding. Using publicly available sources related to state-level departments of education and government entities, Hanover sought to address the following research questions for each state: (1) What is the current structure or formula used for school-level funding? (2) What type of enrollment count and count date does the formula use for funding purposes? (3) What mechanisms in the formula are relevant to enrollment or enrollment projections? (4) What specific state-level funding and/or hold harmless policies exist to protect school-level funding against declining enrollment? (5) Which statutes and legislation define these enrollment protection policies? (6) How have these policies changed over time? and (7) Do any of these protections extend to public charter schools? Hanover reviewed secondary sources for each state to identify relevant policies for this analysis, prioritizing state legislation and sources from the state-level department of education. It used information from other secondary sources as necessary. This report contains two sections: (1) Overview of State Policies--summarizes state funding formulas and relevant enrollment protections for each of the 50 states; and (2) State Profiles--provides a detailed profile for each state, with an overview of its funding formula and a detailed summary of any funding protections that provide protection against funding reductions due to declining enrollment.
- Published
- 2023