District Finance
Must budget cuts erode district quality?
This budget season leaders face a long list of rising costs alongside tightening revenues and increasing student needs In some, financial challenges are compounded by falling enrollments. There are options for how districts can spend smarter toward building long-term financial health and growing outcomes for students.
Featured Research, Data, & Analysis
Looking for tools to help set next year's school budget?
Are students benefiting from the rising costs of special ed?
Most districts now have more staff than ever before
Can financially strapped districts afford tutoring? YES
District Finance Network
Since its inception Edunomics Lab has hosted formal and informal meetings of district finance leads to explore current research and troubleshoot common challenges. Topics range from projections of state and district economic outlooks to strategic budget cutting and stakeholder communications, and the impacts of enrollment shifts and massive federal relief funds for K-12.
To learn more about the network, email edunomics@georgetown.edu.
Related Resources
- Newsletters
- Apr 07, 2026
School district layoffs: It’s happening
School districts across the country are grappling with the aftermath of a massive hiring surge paired with a steady decline in student enrollment. While federal relief funds provided a temporary cushion, the "Big Shrink" is forcing a long-overdue conversation about which roles truly drive student success. To survive this transition, leaders must look past broad cuts and identify exactly where...
- Articles & Publications
- Mar 17, 2026
For the Sake of Their Students, Districts Need to Do Their Job in Labor Talks
District leaders uncomfortable with the head-to-head conflict that comes with labor negotiations might be harming their students.
- Newsletters
- Feb 12, 2026
A reckoning on school staffing. WANDA has your district’s numbers.
You know the story: many districts added staff with temporary federal relief funds just as enrollments began to fall. But who are all the new hires? And what roles grew the most? WANDA (our handy data tool) shows what staffing patterns look like in states and districts. District leaders can use WANDA to examine their staffing and inform efforts to...
- Newsletters
- Jan 21, 2026
Can financially strapped districts afford tutoring? YES
How budget-strapped districts can afford tutoring by redeploying existing staff from non-teaching specialist, administrator and support staff roles.
Earn Your Certificate in Education Finance
2027 cohort: Feb. 24-25 in Washington, DC
