Democratic candidates seek a big and unprecedented K-12 funding boost

Democratic candidates seek a big and unprecedented K-12 funding boost

Democratic candidates seek a big and unprecedented K-12 funding boost

Democratic presidential candidates are proposing new approaches to the federal government’s role in public education.

Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders want to triple the US$15 billion spent annually on Title I, a program that sends extra federal dollars to school districts that educate a high percentage of poor children.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren wants to go further and quadruple funding for that same program.

Other candidates have similar proposals to substantially increase funding for public education, including Sen. Amy Klobuchar and former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg hasn’t yet issued his education platform, or indicated where he stands on federal K-12 funding.

Funding increases of this scale would transform the federal role in education policy, making it easier for school districts to pay teachers higher wages while reducing class sizes. This focus on funding would mark a departure from previous administrations, which instead emphasized policies intended to increase accountability and strengthen teacher evaluation.

As a scholar of school finance, I study the role of resources in schools. The research is clear that spending more on students over the long haul would bring about long-term benefits.

Only 8%

The federal government spends a total of about $55 billion per year on K-12 education, in addition to outlays for early childhood and post-secondary programs like loans and grants for college tuition. This amounts to around $1,000 per K-12 student and just 8% of the total $700 billion it costs to run the nation’s CONTINUE READING: Democratic candidates seek a big and unprecedented K-12 funding boost