Funding systems can promote equity, better outcomes for students, and a better profession for educators.
How can finance systems help all students succeed? By making sure that schools have the funds and flexibility to meet their students’ needs.
Per-pupil education spending more than doubled in real terms between 1970 and 2010. Public Impact’s work focuses on understanding why those funds haven’t improved student learning and identifying new methods to use funds in ways that support better student outcomes and a better profession for educators.
We continually generate new ideas based on data and field observation to further close achievement gaps and elevate prospects for all children, and elevate the education profession so everyone can experience excellent instruction, support, and career opportunities.
See a summary of our school funding services here. Download a PDF of this page here.
Contact us to discuss how we can help you achieve your goals: info@publicimpact.com
Public Impact’s Thought Leadership
Public Impact’s finance thought-leadership includes:
- We are leaders on the topic of student-based budgeting to increase the equity and effectiveness of state and district funding systems. We have worked with local organizations in Connecticut, Washington state, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Idaho, and Georgia to analyze detailed finance and student enrollment data, decipher how funding allocations work, and create nuanced forecasting models to understand the consequences of alternative finance systems.
- Our Opportunity Culture models pay teachers more—within existing budgets—for extending their reach to more students and other teachers, and we have called for further reallocation of spending to pay educators far more. Early pilots have increased the percentage of schools exceeding growth substantially versus comparator schools.
Our Services
We collaborate with partners, funders, and clients to provide:
Strategy and Design
- Strategic finance plans and redesign with states, districts, and innovation zones
- School redesign facilitation with educators to reallocate spending
Implementation Support and Evaluation
- Data dashboards and other reports to gauge and share information about funding equity
- Nuanced forecasting tools that allow users to see how different policy changes would influence funding allocations
- Rigorous evaluation studies investigating the impact of new funding systems following implementation
- Virtual and in-person convenings of educators and policymakers
Research and Policy Advising
- Advising on local, state, and federal policies to support wise levels and use of education funding
- Useful case studies and benchmark data on school funding and spending
- Research that leads the field forward
- New solutions when old approaches to school finance fall short
Select School Funding Clients
| • Achieve Hartford! • Bluum | • ConnCAN • Georgia Chamber of Commerce | • Partnership for Learning • Rhode Island Foundation |
