Fiscal Federalism and K–12 Education Funding: Policy Lessons From Two Educational Crises


Published Online in:
Educational Research
October 11, 2022

Kenneth A. Shores, University of Delaware
Matthew P. Steinberg, George Mason University

We synthesize and critique federal fiscal policy during the Great Recession and Covid-19 pandemic. First, the amount of aid during both crises was inadequate to meet policy goals. Second, the mechanisms used to distribute funds was disconnected from policy goals and provided different levels of aid to districts with equivalent levels of economic disadvantage. Third, data tools are missing making it difficult to understand whether funds were used to meet policy goals. Details for these results are provided along with policy recommendations.

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Read the press release: "New Research Finds Federal Pandemic Aid to U.S. Public Schools Was Insufficient to Address Student Learning Loss"

Study citation: Shores, K. A., & Steinberg, M. P. (2022). Fiscal federalism and K–12 education funding: Policy lessons from two educational crises. Educational Researcher. Prepublished October 11, 2022. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X221125764.