This article estimates the costs of school finance adequacy in each of the 50 states and Washington, D.C. by applying the recommendations from an evidence-based model to the student characteristics of each individual state. Using two different prices, (a) the national average teacher salaries adjusted by a comparable wage index and (b) individual state teacher salaries, the authors estimate per pupil costs of adequacy. Results suggest that in 30 states additional resources are needed to reach the funding level for the evidence-based model. The findings do not make adjustments for diseconomies resulting from large numbers of small schools or districts or other state preferences for educational services that could lead to individual state variations from the authors’ findings.
Augenblick, J. ( 2001). Calculation of the cost of an adequate education in Maryland in 1999-2000 using two different analytic approaches. Denver, CO: Augenblick and Meyers.
2.
Augenblick, J., Myers, J., Silverstein, J., & Barkis, A. ( 2002). Calculation of the cost of a suitable education in Kansas in 2000-2001 using two different analytic approaches. Topeka: Kansas Legislative Coordinating Council.
3.
Chambers, J., Levin, J., & DeLancey, D. ( 2006). Efficiency and adequacy in California school finance: A professional judgment approach. Washington, DC: American Institutes for Research. Retrieved February 24, 2008, from http://www.schoolfunding.info/states/ca/CA-AIR-3-07.pdf
4.
Cullen, J.B. ( 2003). The impact of fiscal incentives on student disability rates. Journal of Public Economics, 87(7-8), 1557-1589.
5.
Downes, T., & Stiefel, L. ( 2008). Measuring equity and adequacy in school finance. In H. F. Ladd & E. B. Fiske (Eds.), Handbook of research in education finance and policy (pp. 222-237). New York: Routledge .
6.
Duncombe, W., Ruggiero, J., & Yinger, J. ( 1996). Alternative approaches to measuring the cost of education . In H. F. Ladd (Ed.), Holding schools accountable: Performance-based reform in education (pp. 327-356). Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.
7.
Dupree, A., Augenblick, J., & Silverstein, J. (2006). Report on the cost of education . Trenton: New Jersey Department of Education, Division of Finance, Office of School Funding.
8.
Educational Research Service. (2006). Budgeted revenues and expenditures in public school systems: Current status and trends, update 2006. Alexandria, VA: Author.
9.
Educational Research Service. (2007). National survey of salaries and wages in public schools, 2005-2006. Alexandria, VA: Author.
10.
Fermanich, M., Mangan, M.T., Odden, A., Picus, L.O., Gross, B., & Rudo, Z. ( 2006). Washington learns: Successful district study. Olympia: Washington Learns Steering Committee. Retrieved May 19, 2009, from http://www.washingtonlearns.wa.gov/materials/SuccessfulDistReport9-11-06Final_000.pdf
11.
Guthrie, J., et al. (1997). A proposed cost-based block grant model for Wyoming school finance. Davis, CA: Management Analysis and Planning Associates, LLC. Mimeo.
12.
Imazeki, J., & Reschovsky, A. (2005). Assessing the use of econometric analysis in estimating the costs of meeting state education accountability standards: Lessons from Texas. Peabody Journal of Education , 80(2005), 96-125.
13.
Mangan, M., Odden, A., & Picus, L.O. ( 2009) School level resource use in Arkansas following an adequacy oriented school finance reform. Manuscript submitted for publication.
14.
National Center for Education Statistics. ( 2007). Common core of data. Washington, DC : U.S. Department of Education.
15.
National Education Association. (2007). Rankings and estimates: Rankings of the states 2006 and estimates of school statistics 2007. Washington, DC: Author.
16.
Odden, A.R., Goetz, M.E., & Picus, L.O. ( 2008). Using available evidence to estimate the cost of educational adequacy. Journal of Education Finance and Policy, 3(3), 374-397.
17.
Odden, A.R., & Picus, L.O. ( 2008). School finance: A policy perspective (4th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
18.
Odden, A.R., Picus, L.O., Archibald, S., Goetz, M., Mangan, M.T., & Aportela, A. ( 2007). Moving from good to great in Wisconsin: Funding schools adequately and doubling student performance. Madison: University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Center for Education Research, Consortium for Policy Research in Education.
19.
Odden, A., Picus, L.O., & Fermanich, M. ( 2003b, September). An evidenced-based approach to school finance adequacy in Arkansas. Submitted to the Joint Committee on Educational Adequacy of the Arkansas legislature, Little Rock.
20.
Odden, A.O., Picus, L.O., & Goetz, M. ( 2006). Recalibrating the Arkansas school funding structure: Final report submitted to the Adequacy Study Oversight Sub-Committee of the House and Senate Interim Committees on Education of the Arkansas general assembly . North Hollywood, CA: Lawrence O. Picus and Associates.
21.
Odden, A.R., Picus, L.O., Goetz, M., Fermanich, M., Seder, R., Glenn, W., et al. (2005). An evidence-based approach to recalibrating Wyoming’s block grant school funding formula. North Hollywood, CA: Lawrence O. Picus and Associates. Retrieved May 19, 2009, from http://www.lopassociates.com/PDFs/WY%20Recalibration%20report%20Final%20November%2030%2005.pdf
22.
Odden, A., Picus, L.O., Goetz, M., Mangan, M.T., & Fermanich, M. ( 2006). An evidence-based approach to school finance in Washington. Submitted to the Washington Learns Steering Committee, Olympia. Retrieved May 19, 2009, from http://www.washingtonlearns.wa.gov/materials/EvidenceBasedReportFinal9-11-06_000.pdf
23.
Picus, L.O., Odden, A., Aportela, A., Mangan, M., & Goetz, M. ( 2008, June 30). Implementing school finance adequacy: School level resource use in Wyoming following adequacy-oriented finance reform (Final report submitted to the Wyoming state legislature). North Hollywood, CA: Lawrence O. Picus and Associates.
24.
Picus, L.O., Odden, A., & Fermanich, M. ( 2003, May). A professional judgment approach to school finance adequacy in Kentucky. Submitted to the KentuckyDepartment of Education, Frankfort.
25.
Rebell, M. ( 2007). Professional rigor, public engagement and judicial review: A proposal for enhancing the validity of education adequacy studies. TCRecord. Retrieved May 22, 2007, from http://www.tcrecord.org/content.asp?contentid=12743
26.
Reschovsky, A., & Imazeki, J. ( 1998). The development of school finance formulas to guarantee the provision of adequate education to low-income students. In W. J. Fowler, Jr. (Ed.), Developments in school finance, 1997 (NCES 98-212; pp. 121-148) Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.
27.
Reschovsky, A., & Imazeki, J. ( 2000). Reforming state aid to achieve educational adequacy: Lessons from Texas and Wisconsin. In G. Peevely (Ed.), Education funding adequacy and equity in the next millennium. Proceedings of the first National Conference for Education Funding Adequacy (pp. 263-290). Nashville: Tennessee State University, Center of Excellence for Research and Policy.
28.
Reschovsky, A., & Imazeki, J. ( 2001). Achieving educational adequacy through school finance reform. Journal of Education Finance, 26(4), 373-396.
29.
Sonstelie, J. ( 2007). Aligning school finance with academic standards: A weighted-student formula based on a survey of practitioners. San Francisco : Public Policy Institute of California. Retrieved February 24, 2008, from http://www.schoolfunding.info/states/ca/CA-PPIC-3-07.pdf
30.
Stringfield, S., Ross, S., & Smith, L. ( 1996). Bold plans for school restructuring. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
31.
Taylor, L., & Fowler, W. ( 2006). A comparable wage approach to geographic cost adjustment . Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved May 19, 2009, from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2006/2006321.pdf
32.
Verstegen, D. ( 2003). Calculation of the cost of an adequate education in Kentucky . Report prepared for the Council for Better Education , Frankfort, KY.
