EdQuest Georgia
Overview
Policies must ensure an adequate funding level for all students that is distributed in a way that ensures equity.
Nationally, discussions and policies around funding formulas for K-12 systems are shifting from a focus on equal funding across districts to considerations of equity. The equity approach takes into account that it simply costs more to educate some students than others. For example, low-income students tend to start school academically behind, requiring additional academic supports, extra learning time, and potentially outside services related to social services or foster care.
Adequate & Equitable Funding Overview
Benchmarks
Education Week publishes an annual assessment of state education policy, including the area of school finance. Their analysis examines both education spending patterns and the equity in the distribution of funding across the districts with each state.
Education Week’s Quality Counts 2020
Education Week. 2020. "Quality Counts 2020 - School Finance." Education Week. January. https://www.edweek.org/ew/collections/quality-counts-2020-school-finance/index.html
Georgia Compared to Top Five Performing States
In 2020, Georgia received a C-, placing the state 35th in the nation for K-12 finance policies taking into account overall funding levels and equity.
Georgia Compared to Southern Neighbors
- Georgia ranks behind three of the other Southern states.
Education Week’s Quality Counts 2020
Education Week. 2020. "Quality Counts 2020 - School Finance." Education Week. January. https://www.edweek.org/ew/collections/quality-counts-2020-school-finance/index.html
Resources
International and National Benchmarking
Center on International Education Benchmarking: Equity
This site contains policy briefs based on best practice research of the world’s top-performing education systems.
Education Week 2017 Quality Counts
Education Week conducts an annual assessment of state education policy, including the area of school finance. This analysis examines both education spending patterns and the equity in the distribution of funding across the districts within each state.
The Urban Institute Profile of Debt in America
The Education Trust – The Education Trust is a nonprofit organization that promotes closing opportunity gaps by expanding excellence and equity in education for students of color and those from low-income families from pre-kindergarten through college. Through research and advocacy, the organization builds and engages diverse communities that care about education equity, increases political and public will to act on equity issues, and increases college access and completion for historically underserved students.
National Research and Resources
Education Commission of the States: An interstate compact on education policy
- State Financial Aid Redesign
- School Finance Resources
- Need-Based State Financial Aid: Snapshot from Education Commission of the States
- Report that examines all states funding formulas and assessments of their adequacy and equity.
Bruce Baker’s Blog: School Finance 101
- Bruce Baker is an economist who focuses on education.
Kirabo Jackson: Collection of Works
- Kirabo Jackson is an education finance expert who has done several prominent studies on education funding.
EdBuild – Nonprofit organization researching fairness in state funding policies
- FundED – Interactive web tool to aggregate and standardize information regarding education funding laws.
Excel in Ed: Education Funding Reform
Georgia Resources
Georgia Department of Education
Georgia Budget and Policy Institute
- Georgia Budget Primer FY 2018
- Georgia Higher Education Budget Primer FY 2018 (video)
- Georgia K-12 Education Budget Primer FY 2018 (video)
Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education, Funding Resources
Georgia School Boards Association Financial Services for Districts
Opportunities
Keep moving forward;
strong policies in place:
Protect Georgia’s relative equity in education funding allocations by maintaining categorical grants.
Proceed with caution;
policies need some work:
Advocate for a federal aid package for additional education stabilization funds, above those provided by CARES Act.
Eventually Pass Funding Reform Legislation.
Alert! Policy missing
or needs immediate attention:
Consider All Current Budget Cuts Temporary
Responsibly Raise Revenue to Offset Shortages – Support for Recommendations by Georgia Budget and Policy Institute