Lincoln Institute Session at the 2025 Association for Education Finance & Policy Conference

Lessons and Challenges in K-12 School Finance: A 50-Year Perspective

The question of where K-12 public schools’ education funding should come from has remained a critical issue over the past 50 years. The local property tax, while providing a stable and efficient funding source for schools, has been criticized for exacerbating inequities. State aid can help bridge the gap, but state experiences over the last five decades have raised important questions about the effects of centralization on the level and stability of funding and student achievement. Over the past five decades, school funding lawsuits have challenged the constitutionality of educational funding systems in 48 states, often leading to court-ordered restructuring, reshaping the way many states fund public schools.

This policy dialogue will explore lessons learned about financing K–12 education in the United States. It will examine the effects of reducing the role of the local property tax, state aid formula design, impacts of recessions on funding, school finance litigation, state experiences with school finance restructuring, and the effects of school finance policy on student outcomes. The session aims to inform future policy decisions and advancing the goal of equitably and efficiently funding a high-quality education for all schoolchildren.