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Equity in School Finance

Since 1971, all but five states have been sued over educational equity and adequacy in school funding. In twenty-seven of these states, the plaintiffs won. In this section we highlight model state policies that ensure schools in poor districts have access to financial resources at least equal to their more fortunate counterparts.

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Rules

Equal Educational Opportunity Act - Vermont

  • State
    • The Vermont legislature passed Act 60, The Equal Educational Opportunity Act, in June 1997, following a February state Supreme Court ruling in a class-action suit that Vermont's method of paying for education was inequitable and unconstitutional. More

    Equity in School Finance - Maryland

  • State
    • Maryland's legislature enacted a new education finance system in 2002. It provides for $1.3 billion annually in additional school funding, and targets this increase to districts with lower wealth and more high-need students. Maryland is one of the first states to reform its school finance system based on the cost of providing every student with the opportunity to achieve the state's achievement standards. More

    School Funding Formula - New Mexico

  • State
    • New Mexico's school funding formula has long been considered one of the most equalized in the nation. A state will tend to have more equalized funding when several conditions apply: a) the state takes on a larger share of the funding (as opposed to when individual school districts raise the majority of funds through property taxes); b) states target their funding to poorer districts, and; c) states take into account regional differences in the cost of education (for instance, it is more expensive to educate a child in New York City than in Plattsburgh.) More

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