• Publications
    • Essay
    • Case Study
    • Policy Study
    • Report
    • Testimony
    • Other
    • Newsletter
  • Blog
    • Daily Blog
    • Podcasts and Radio
    • Video
    • Infographics
    • Commentary / Op-Eds
    • Events
  • Events
  • Donate
  • About
    • Our Team
    • Show-Me Institute Board of Directors
    • Fellows and Scholars
    • Our Authors
    • Jobs
  • Contact
  • Explore Topics
    • Education
      • Accountability
      • Education Finance
      • Performance
      • School Choice
    • Health Care
      • Free-Market Reform
      • Medicaid
    • Corporate Welfare
      • Special Taxing Districts
      • Subsidies
      • Tax Credits
    • Labor
      • Government Unions
      • Public Pensions
    • State and Local Government
      • Budget and Spending
      • Courts
      • Criminal Justice
      • Municipal Policy
      • Property Rights
      • Transparency
      • Transportation
    • Economy
      • Business Climate
      • Energy
      • Minimum Wage
      • Privatization
      • Regulation
      • Taxes
      • Welfare
      • Workforce
Show Me InstituteShow Me Institute
Show Me InstituteShow Me Institute
Support the Show-Me Institute
  • Publications
    • Essay
    • Case Study
    • Policy Study
    • Report
    • Testimony
    • Other
    • Newsletter
  • Blog
    • Daily Blog
    • Podcasts and Radio
    • Video
    • Infographics
    • Commentary / Op-Eds
    • Events
  • Events
  • Donate
  • About
    • Our Team
    • Show-Me Institute Board of Directors
    • Fellows and Scholars
    • Our Authors
    • Jobs
  • Contact
  • Explore Topics
    • Education
      • Accountability
      • Education Finance
      • Performance
      • School Choice
    • Health Care
      • Free-Market Reform
      • Medicaid
    • Corporate Welfare
      • Special Taxing Districts
      • Subsidies
      • Tax Credits
    • Labor
      • Government Unions
      • Public Pensions
    • State and Local Government
      • Budget and Spending
      • Courts
      • Criminal Justice
      • Municipal Policy
      • Property Rights
      • Transparency
      • Transportation
    • Economy
      • Business Climate
      • Energy
      • Minimum Wage
      • Privatization
      • Regulation
      • Taxes
      • Welfare
      • Workforce
Education / Accountability

Opportunities to Improve Missouri’s Education Funding Formula

By Aaron Garth Smith and Susan Pendergrass on Nov 6, 2019
Bar graph

If you imagine that funding public schools in Missouri is a simple matter of assigning a set amount of money per student and sending that money to school districts according to how many students they serve, then you are (1) probably our kind of person, but (2) sadly mistaken. Unfortunately, it’s complicated.

How complicated? Consider the following facts about the current funding formula:

  • Students with disabilities may generate extra revenue for their school districts to reflect the additional expense their education requires—or then again, they may not.
  • The property values in a school district used in the calculation to determine state aid may be current—or they may be from 15 years ago.
  • If the public school you attend happens to be a public charter school, your school won’t receive the same funding as other schools for its building and facilities, and it will have to pay 1.5 percent of its state and local funding as an “administrative fee.”

This paper explains how some of these problems came about, and it also proposes some reforms that would promote fairness, transparency, and local autonomy in our public education system.

To read the entire report, click on the link below.

 

20191017 - Missouri School Finance - Smith_Pendergrass.pdf
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Email
  • Print
About the author

Aaron Garth Smith

More about this author >
    About the author

    Susan Pendergrass

    Director of Education Policy

    More about this author >
      Footer Logo
      Support the Show-Me-Institute
      Showmeinstitute.org is brought to you by Show-Me Institute and Show-Me Opportunity.
      • Publications
      • Blog
      • Events
      • Donate
      • About
      • Contact

      Reprint permission for Show-Me Institute publications and commentaries is hereby granted, provided that proper credit is given to the author. We request, but do not require, that those who reprint our material notify us of publication for our records: [email protected]

      Mission Statement
      Advancing liberty with responsibility by promoting market solutions for Missouri public policy.

      © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved