Research Briefs

These reports and briefs are produced by the SFID team and present original analyses of SFID data.

The list includes the most recent version of the state profiles that are published every year accompanying the annual report and state database, as well as analyses focusing on topics that are not covered by the annual report (we try to publish at least one additional report or brief per year).

State School Finance Profiles 2025

One page profiles summarizing the adequacy and fairness of each state’s public K-12 finance system in the 2021-22 school year. Published with our 2025 annual report.

Authors: Matthew Di Carlo, Jordan Beal, Bruce D. Baker, and Mark Weber

Publication date: March 2025

Published by the School Finance Indicators Database

Does Money Matter in Education? (third edition)

A comprehensive review of the research about the effect of K-12 school funding on student outcomes, with a particular focus on studies published over the past 15 years.

Authors: Bruce D. Baker and David Knight

Publication date: January 2025

Published by the Albert Shanker Institute (external link)

The Source Code: Revenue Composition and the Adequacy, Equity, and Stability of K-12 School Spending

An analysis of the relationship between where school funding comes from and adequacy, equity, and stability.

Authors: Bruce D. Baker, Matthew Di Carlo, and Zachary Oberfield

Publication date: April 2023

Published by the Albert Shanker Institute (external link)

Ensuring Adequate Education Funding For All: A New Federal Foundation Aid Formula

A proposal for and simulation of a new “foundation formula” approach to federal K-12 funding.

Authors: Bruce D. Baker, Matthew Di Carlo, and Mark Weber

Publication date: September 2022

Published by the Albert Shanker Institute (external link)

Segregation and School Funding: How Housing Discrimination Reproduces Unequal Opportunity

A descriptive analysis of the relationship between racial and ethnic segregation and K-12 school funding.

Authors: Bruce D. Baker, Matthew Di Carlo, and Preston Green III

Publication date: June 2022

Published by the Albert Shanker Institute (external link)

The Adequacy of School District Spending in the U.S.

An analysis of our new District Cost Database, which provides measures of the adequacy of funding in 12,000 public school districts.

Authors: Bruce D. Baker, Matthew Di Carlo, and Mark Weber

Publication date: March 2021

Published by the School Finance Indicators Database

The Coronavirus Pandemic and K-12 Education Funding

This report examines the implications of the coronavirus pandemic for K-12 education funding, and lays out state and federal policy recommendations.

Authors: Bruce D. Baker and Matthew Di Carlo

Publication date: April 2020

Published by the Albert Shanker Institute (external link)

School Finance and Teacher Pay Competitiveness

An analysis of wage gaps between teachers and comparable non-teacher professionals, and the relationship between these gaps and state school spending and fiscal effort.

Authors: Bruce D. Baker, Matthew Di Carlo, and Mark Weber

Publication date: July 2019

Published by the School Finance Indicators Database