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...
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...
How budget-strapped districts can afford tutoring by redeploying existing staff from non-teaching specialist, administrator and support staff roles.
Learn how fraud, abuse, and waste drain K-12 education budgets. From gift card theft to ineffective programs, discover why districts need zero-tolerance policies and data-driven budgeting to protect taxpayer funds and restore public trust in schools.
Each year the federal Title 1 program delivers $18B to districts, and in return districts are supposed to close achievement gaps between students from low-income households and their peers. With missed results and proposed cuts now might be a good time to recommit to the deal and make measurable progress for low-income students.
Districts are experiencing enrollment declines that signal long-term financial challenges — what we call The Big Shrink. Drops in particular grade levels or reveal different underlying causes, from falling birthrates to family out-migration. Leaders who analyze their data early can plan thoughtfully — rethinking staffing, evaluating programs, and even closing schools — to build smaller, stronger, and more sustainable systems...
While PD can deliver strong returns—such as boosting reading instruction or supporting lower-achieving students—it often falls short, and many districts continue funding the same approaches without measuring results. With tighter budgets, leaders should set measurable goals, track results, and redirect funds from ineffective PD to strategies that deliver meaningful improvements.
There's a lot of attention on the July 1 federal withholding of some Title funds however the real ed finance game changer is OBBBA's tax credit scholarship provision.There are still a lot of details to be hammered out but It’s the type of money that changes the education landscape over time.
Research has long documented that a strong teacher can have profound effects on student math and reading scores. And yet, school systems have tended to focus on quantity over quality. But prioritizing teacher quality is possible. And it doesn't mean throwing out the traditional pay scale or resorting to unpopular merit bonuses. A few school systems are paving the way.
While the ESSER tap was flowing, districts promoted many of their best teachers into non-teaching roles of administrators, coordinators, interventionists, coaches, and student support staff. With those funds gone how districts pivot-- focus on quality over quantity--matters for students.
News of federal layoffs is everywhere. Meanwhile, districts are making their own massively consequential decisions right now, including layoffs of school personnel.
The 10-year trends for each state suggest a reset is needed in many to ensure that investments are delivering more for students.
2027 cohort: Feb. 24-25 in Washington, DC
