Ample Funding for All: Fiscal Effects of the McCleary School Finance Equalization Reform in Washington

Abstract

In 2012, the McCleary case ruling by Washington's Supreme Court significantly centralized school funding to re-equalize basic education access for all students. To understand the impact of the reform on school district finance, we examine changes in Washington school district revenues over 2004–2021. We document that the reform increased total district resources and the share of state funding for all districts rather than for disadvantaged districts alone. We also observe a decline in the use of local revenues by districts. Taken together, the results suggest that funding equity improvements in Washington were achieved through more abundant state revenue assistance and through the flattening of local levies, with prospectively stronger negative effects of the policy change on the local revenues of wealthier school districts over time.