Addressing Unequal Funding Practices in the United States Public Education System

Abstract

There are large disparities in public education funding among states and within states. These disparities are caused by a lack of equitable funding formulas, no alignment or accountability for funding formulas used by states, and a small amount of federal funding and oversight in the public education system at the K-12 level. These inequities lead to a disparity in the quality of education and the success rate of specific populations of students in the United States. This is not only a question of fairness in the public education system, but has long term, far reaching economic effects on the United States. This capstone analyzes the various gaps and disparities in public school funding, then offers a policy solution to address these issues using the example of current successful policies in other countries, and analyzes the effectiveness of the proposed policy and its political implications. Finally, the capstone makes a recommendation based on the analysis.