Number of Cost Studies Increases in 2004

School funding cost studies were conducted at a remarkable rate in 2004, as nine separate studies were conducted in seven states, continuing a national increase in the use of costing-out analyses. Several researchers conducted cost studies that attempted to determine the price of implementing the No Child Left Behind Act, and that number is expected to increase dramatically in 2005, as the debate over costs of the federal bill heats up. In 2004 Ohio, Minnesota, Texas, and Hawai’i released studies on the costs of NCLB, while Texas, New York, Vermont, and Tennessee released reports on the cost of education adequacy in the state.

Adequacy Studies

Both New York and Texas witnessed the release of several studies in conjunction with adequacy lawsuits, as opposing sides sought data to inform their arguments. Experts in Texas relied on the econometric method, while separate studies in New York used the Successful School District method and a combination of the Professional Judgment method supplemented by Successful School District and econometric calculations. One The New York Adequacy Study, which was conducted by Management Analysis & Planning and American Institutes for Research, was especially notable in its extensive use of public engagement to augment the conclusions of its Professional Judgment panel and Successful School District calculations.

The National Conference of State Legislatures conducted a study that combined the Successful School Districts and Professional Judgment methodologies for the Vermont Department of Education, while Augenblick, Palaich & Associates (APA) performed a study, using the same combination of methodologies, for the Coalition for Tennessee’s Future. Using both methodologies allows for more flexible recommendations; in Tennessee consultants proposed scaling school funding from the lower number arrived at through Successful School Districts up to the higher number proposed by the Professional Judgment panels over a period of several years.

NCLB Studies

As Augenblick, Palaich & Associates described in the July 2004 report on the “marginal” costs of NCLB in Hawai’i, there are several levels of NCLB-associated expenses that can be calculated within a cost study. Most NCLB studies have focused on the very limited administrative costs associated with implementing specific NCLB regulations, excluding any preexisting state accountability programs. Other studies, such as the one performed in Texas, focus on the cost of actually improving student achievement to the levels required under NCLB. Much like adequacy studies, these more in-depth studies often find states’ current spending levels to be insufficient, especially given the stark achievement standards of NCLB.

2005 Studies

In fact, NCLB will be the primary focus of many of the studies scheduled to be released in 2005. The Council of Chief State School Officers has contracted with APA to perform studies of the costs of NCLB in the member states of its NCLB Cost Consortium; the study in Hawai’i was the first of these.

States expecting adequacy studies in 2005 include Arizona, where ongoing litigation has raised questions on the cost of adequate education for English language learners, and Connecticut, where a coalition has formed that is considering the possibility of an adequacy lawsuit against the state. State government in Michigan, Nebraska, and California are all considering studies, though California’s Quality Education Commission, which would complete the study, has been suspended indefinitely by Governor the governor. These studies will continue to shed light upon the actual costs of quality education systems under the increasingly severe demands of federal and state accountability programs.

Prepared by Nelly Ward, January 14, 2005