Looking to avoid closures? Districts have options
Small schools can be financially feasible – but there are tradeoffs.
Should schools brace for big cuts in federal funds?
How will the election impact school finance? Here’s what we think is on the ed finance horizon and what’s worrying us.
Is it true? ESSER boosted spending more in wealthier schools?
Larger higher-poverty districts got more ESSER per pupil than their peers. But, many of those districts then deployed relief funds in ways that disproportionately boosted spending in their wealthier schools. How did that happen?
Our special ed analysis has people talking
Special Ed is consuming a growing share of public school dollars. Is it helping? We owe it to students to regularly scrutinize these dollars to see if we can do more to maximize the outcomes for them.
Which districts could return relief dollars to the Feds?
The Sept. 30 ESSER deadline is fast approaching. Which districts might miss it?
Schools have more staff than ever. Are kids benefiting?
Most districts now have more staff than ever before. Per usual, Edunomics Lab asks: Is it working? Are students benefiting?
Can vendors help our schools?
Optimism around the ed vendor space is running high.
Widespread teacher shortages are over (mostly). Conditions are changing rapidly
It’s more important than ever to track real-time data.
Is it too late to protect what’s working as the cliff hits districts?
Next year’s school district budgets will be locked in this spring. After that, influencing spending for 24-25 gets a lot harder.
Winding down ESSER. Is it working? What’s left to do?
Just 6 months remain on this massive federal program. While there’s still work to be done, we can already see it’s legacy taking shape. Here are a few highlights…
Bringing communities along during painful budget choices
For leaders facing tight budgets, there are better and worse ways to handle the next several months.
Did the feds just extend the ESSER deadline?
In early January 2024, the U.S. Dept. of Education sent a letter to states with the latest on the ARP ESSER extension. Here’s our take on what it all means.
How legislatures can ensure school funds do more for students
K-12 funding is the biggest line item in most state budgets. Here are five policy levers that states can pull to help districts maximize the value of every dollar for students.
Who decides what to cut? Technically school boards do
School boards face tough tradeoffs as they decide what to keep and what goes away when federal relief funds dry up. Here’s what we’ve been learning about how boards engage in making financial decisions.
Mayday…Mayday…Distress signals are appearing in some districts’ data
A quick look at a district’s data can show whether it’s chipping away at learning losses, how quickly ESSER is being spent down, what’s happening to enrollment and more. In a few districts, some of the numbers amount to a distress signal.
The ESSER cliff will be worse in high-needs districts
High-poverty districts got more ESSER (which means the cliff will be steeper) and have spent their funds more slowly (leaving more to spend in the last year) than more affluent counterparts.
The answer to: How to sustain efforts when ESSER ends?
Some ESSER-funded efforts are clearly worth saving. Doing so will require being aware of tradeoffs and making intentional choices.
Districts just approved their last ESSER-fueled budgets
With the deadline for spending ESSER approaching, now is the last chance to ensure these funds get students back on track. It also means the days of financial surplus are ending.
Sharing tough financial news? Odds are you’re doing it wrong
Edunomics Lab has commissioned lots of messaging research on district finances. Here’s some of what we’ve learned about sharing tough financial news in a way that doesn’t erode trust with staff and parents.
Tough finances ahead for districts. Will states come to the rescue?
Come September 2024, when ESSER runs out, districts will need to adjust annual spending down by $60B. What might that mean for employee layoffs?
District are sending large sums out the door to vendors
We estimate 20-30% of ESSER is going toward contracts for purchased services, curriculum, supplies, one-time-projects, and more. Smart contracts and smart approval processes can help ensure they deliver real value for students.
Districts play a starring role in school finance
For decades, the field of education finance has focused heavily on states (revenues, funding formulas). Now that attention is shifting to school districts’ spending choices, especially regarding federal ESSER funds.
Did public education miss the data revolution?
What data can shed light on whether recovery efforts are working? Are rates of chronic absenteeism coming down? Are students back on grade level in math? District leaders will only know to pivot if they look at the data.
ESSER money is now pouring into schools
School districts have two years left to spend about $5 billion a month, raising spending about 9% above normal expenditure levels. Then, the spigot shuts off.
Back to school… for school board members?
School boards are facing financial conditions unlike any before. We think practical, strategic financial skills will be particularly useful in the coming months.
A perfect storm is brewing for K-12 school district finances
Districts across the country have just inked budgets that reflect more growth in spending than any time in the past. And yet the financial outlook has never looked gloomier.
Do districts need new budget moves?
It’s that time of year, the last step in what we call “The Budget Dance,” where school boards vote on a spreadsheet that officially becomes next year’s spending plan. What steps are missing in the process?
Look what the ESSER bunny brought!
Our new ESSER Expenditure Dashboard is now live. It tracks actual federal relief spending by district. We’ve got data for nearly half the states so far with more on the way.
Which schools are better at leveraging dollars for student outcomes?
We’ve created interactive data displays to compare student outcomes and spending by similarly situated schools to show which are beating the odds with the dollars they have.
The North Star of schooling
Getting students back on track is what ESSER is for, right? Or is it? With no clear end goal, focused objective, or common yardstick, ESSER desperately needs a North Star.
Celebrating a wave of changes to teacher compensation
Driven by pandemic staffing challenges, many districts have embraced new pay structures. Can these approaches pave the way for more nimble compensation packages that move beyond rigid, one-size-fits-all teacher salary schedules?
Public school enrollments are falling. What does that mean for district finances?
A surge of federal funds allowed districts to keep under-enrolled schools open and fully staffed in the hopes that students come back. But using funds to protect staffing may impact what is available to pay for tutoring or other programs to get students back on track.
Do leaders have the financial skills needed for this moment?
Now more than ever, the education system depends on district leaders having financial fluency and the skills to leverage resources on behalf of students.
Six potential missteps districts might be making with federal relief funds
As leaders are knee-deep in federal relief fund planning, many are making spending choices that will exacerbate the fiscal cliff. The good news: there’s still time to change plans.
The back-to-school labor crunch
It’s a strange time in the public education labor market, and districts are having to get creative to solve their workforce challenges.
The scramble to get community input on ARP spending
While the feds aren’t telling districts what to do with the money, they are telling them that they’d better make decisions with their communities.
The clock is ticking. Help is on the way
Districts have until the end of the summer to submit plans on how they’ll spend their one-time federal relief funds. Planning for these new dollars is an incredible challenge. And the stakes are high.
Spending federal funds: Insights & opportunities
How are school districts spending their federal relief funds? That’s the question of the month… or perhaps the year! Here are three big trends we’re seeing so far…
Spending federal aid, military v. ed, & grants for NERD$
Our team has been fielding lots of requests about how to use the highly flexible federal relief dollars. With flexibility comes lots of responsibility to get it right. Toward that end, we recommend five key principles to guide spending decisions.
Teacher turnover, NERD$ & more
We’re excited to announce NERD$: National Education Resource Database on Schools, the first-ever national set of school-by-school spending data. Captured for research and comparisons, these data have potential to transform our understanding of ed finance.
Upcoming webinar, fun with charts & more
What’s going on with district finances? The answer: it depends. Districts that have been operating in-person since the fall have faced new costs, while districts that have been fully remote for the last year appear to be saving money on staff and facilities.
Tips & tools to navigate ed finance in 2021
2021 is guaranteed to be tumultuous for public education finances! As we march forward, Edunomics Lab has several resources to help leaders navigate the unstable landscape ahead.
