Tuesday, October 12, 2010

How "Progressive" Is Your State's School Funding? - State EdWatch - Education Week

How "Progressive" Is Your State's School Funding? - State EdWatch - Education Week

How "Progressive" Is Your State's School Funding?

An advocacy group in New Jersey has released an intriguing study that judges states on how much money they direct to their neediest schools.

The authors, from the Education Law Center, use statistical modeling techniques to shine a spotlight on individual states' funding systems. One especially revealing piece of their analysis looks at per-pupil spending, broken down by the amount that goes to each state's wealthiest and poorest school districts. States that are devoting more money to poor districts, as opposed to better-off ones, have "progressive" funding systems, as the study puts it, while those that don't are labeled "regressive." (Memories of Econ 101 are returning to you as read