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Overview
In
all 50 states, state and local tax revenues
provide most public school funding, with
the federal government supplying only about
seven percent of school funds nationwide.
Historically, the state portion of school
funding has been based on a politically
determined amount of available money - without
an analysis of educational needs - and the
outcome of a political struggle over how
to distribute that money among a state's
school districts. Usually, this process
has led to an "Inequitable
Equilibrium," in which the distribution
of resources represents the balance of political
power in the state.
Standards-based
Reform
Over
the past 17 years, 49 of the 50 states have
adopted statewide student learning standards
in accordance with standards-based reform. Therefore,
a new set of questions has emerged as to
how states should fund schools to align
funding with the standards that students
are required or expected to meet:
 What resources and
conditions do schools need in order to enable their
students to meet the state's student learning standards?
How much funding is
required to build and maintain the necessary resources
and conditions?
What kind of state
education finance system would best deliver that funding
to all schools?
To
answer these questions, especially the first two, states
and education advocacy organizations have increasingly
turned to "costing-out studies"
to obtain rationally based, objective information on
how to fund public education so that all students have
a genuine opportunity to meet the learning standards.
Since 1991, when a business group in Massachusetts conducted
an education cost study for that state, over 50 studies have been undertaken in over 35 states.
Finance Litigation
An
additional impetus for costing-out studies has come
from the courts, many of which have declared their state's
school funding system unconstitutional as the result
of education finance litigation. In five
of these states, courts have also ordered the states
to conduct costing-out studies as part of their Remedial
Orders: Arizona, Arkansas, New York, Ohio, and Wyoming. (Status of
School Funding Litigations in the 50 States)
NCLB
The
2001 reauthorization of the federal Elementary and Secondary
Education Act, known as “No
Child Left Behind” (NCLB), has added another reason
for education cost studies because its unprecedented
goals would require an unknown level of additional funding
for schools. Ohio was the first
state to conduct such a study. Since then, other
states have conduted NCLB studies of varying scopes.
Public
Engagement
To
date, most costing-out studies have not
afforded the public the opportunity to become
involved, although the Maine and Kansas studies included
some outreach. However, public engagement
played a significant role from the outset
in a New
York costing-out study.
Useful
Resources
A Costing-Out Primer
explains what costing-out is, summarizes
the methodologies used, and provides additional
resources.
"Professional
Rigor, Public Engagement and Judicial Review:
A Proposal for Enhancing the Validity of
Education Adequacy Studies," by Michael
Rebell. Teachers College Record (October
2006)
Discussion of the
three costing-out studies in Ohio, in
Molly A. Hunter, Trying to Bridge the Gaps:
Ohio's Search for an Education Finance Remedy,
26 Journal of Education Finance 63 (Summer
2000)
Report
on Public Engagement in costing out: New York State
Council on Costing Out, Adequate Funding for New York's
Schools: Communities Speak Out on What Students Really
Need to Succeed (June 2003)
Discussion of NCLB funding needs in "Two
Very Different Questions," by William
J. Mathis, Education Week, April 21, 2004.
Prepared by Molly A. Hunter, last updated
May 9, 2006.
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