EDBUILD | HOMESYSTEM IS BROKENWAYS TO FIX ITTOOLS TO HELPDIVE DEEPERFEATURED COVERAGEFORMER STAFF EdBuild was an organization that worked to bring common sense and fairness to the way states fund public schools. Here, you can find EdBuild’s work and learn about school funding problems and solutions. School funding systems in America are arbitrary, failing to

EDBUILD | HOME

This is a practical guide for those seeking to reform state funding formulas. Use EdBuilder, an interactive tool, to construct your formula from the range of policy options recommended, and read EdBuild’s full recommendations to explore these policies in depth. Outdated. Arbitrary. Segregating.

EDBUILD | DATA

To create the county-level coronavirus, school district dataset, EdBuild used the following data sources: • Coronavirus (COVID-19) County-level data: Data on coronavirus cases and deaths in the U.S. come from The New York Times, Github repository. This dataset includes both "probable" and "confirmed" COVID-19 cases and deaths. EDBUILD | 23 BILLION The state story. Ten of the twelve million students enrolled in racially concentrated nonwhite districts reside in states where the funding policies bias white districts. To see more about how states fare when comparing racially concentrated low-income districts, select a state from the drop-down menu below. > 75% of students are nonwhite.

UPDATED 2020

of the country’s most segregating school district borders, the figures are similar. In Michigan, which has six borders numbered among the nation’s most segregating, the poverty line also amounts to 39%

of the

EDBUILD | FUNDED

Use the options below to generate reports regarding state education funding policy. The standard reports can be generated for any single state or any single issue area, or for any pair of states. These reports can include any level of detail (summary, intermediate, or in-depth). Standard reports are

EDBUILD | DISMISSED

Dismissed: America’s Most Divisive Borders. Thirteen districts surround Philadelphia’s public school system. Two-thirds of these neighboring school systems are at least 25 percentage points whiter, and have a minimum of 10% more funding—an average of over $5,000 more in per-pupil dollars. One of these, Lower Merion, is consistently

named

EDBUILD | BUILDING EQUITY: FAIRNESS IN PROPERTY TAX EFFORT Building Equity: Fairness in Property Tax Effort for Education Feb 21, 2017. If public education is meant to provide every child, no matter his or her background, with the opportunity to learn, grow, and thrive, then funding for public schools must be raised in a way that is aligned with this mission: fairly and equitably, in a manner that supports rather than harms needy communities. EDBUILD | RACE AND REVENUE 26% of students are enrolled in predominantly white districts. †. Race and class are inextricably linked in the U.S. When comparing the poverty level of racially concentrated systems, a clear divide emerges. Predominantly white districts are far better off than their heavily nonwhite peers. These statistics confirm what we know about

income

EDBUILD | FRONTIER

The city of Indianapolis once formed the center of Marion County, Indiana. But in 1969, city officials sought to merge the city and county governments in order to EDBUILD | HOMESYSTEM IS BROKENWAYS TO FIX ITTOOLS TO HELPDIVE DEEPERFEATURED COVERAGEFORMER STAFF EdBuild was an organization that worked to bring common sense and fairness to the way states fund public schools. Here, you can find EdBuild’s work and learn about school funding problems and solutions. School funding systems in America are arbitrary, failing to

EDBUILD | HOME

This is a practical guide for those seeking to reform state funding formulas. Use EdBuilder, an interactive tool, to construct your formula from the range of policy options recommended, and read EdBuild’s full recommendations to explore these policies in depth. Outdated. Arbitrary. Segregating.

EDBUILD | DATA

To create the county-level coronavirus, school district dataset, EdBuild used the following data sources: • Coronavirus (COVID-19) County-level data: Data on coronavirus cases and deaths in the U.S. come from The New York Times, Github repository. This dataset includes both "probable" and "confirmed" COVID-19 cases and deaths. EDBUILD | 23 BILLION The state story. Ten of the twelve million students enrolled in racially concentrated nonwhite districts reside in states where the funding policies bias white districts. To see more about how states fare when comparing racially concentrated low-income districts, select a state from the drop-down menu below. > 75% of students are nonwhite.

UPDATED 2020

of the country’s most segregating school district borders, the figures are similar. In Michigan, which has six borders numbered among the nation’s most segregating, the poverty line also amounts to 39%

of the

EDBUILD | FUNDED

Use the options below to generate reports regarding state education funding policy. The standard reports can be generated for any single state or any single issue area, or for any pair of states. These reports can include any level of detail (summary, intermediate, or in-depth). Standard reports are

EDBUILD | DISMISSED

Dismissed: America’s Most Divisive Borders. Thirteen districts surround Philadelphia’s public school system. Two-thirds of these neighboring school systems are at least 25 percentage points whiter, and have a minimum of 10% more funding—an average of over $5,000 more in per-pupil dollars. One of these, Lower Merion, is consistently

named

EDBUILD | BUILDING EQUITY: FAIRNESS IN PROPERTY TAX EFFORT Building Equity: Fairness in Property Tax Effort for Education Feb 21, 2017. If public education is meant to provide every child, no matter his or her background, with the opportunity to learn, grow, and thrive, then funding for public schools must be raised in a way that is aligned with this mission: fairly and equitably, in a manner that supports rather than harms needy communities. EDBUILD | RACE AND REVENUE 26% of students are enrolled in predominantly white districts. †. Race and class are inextricably linked in the U.S. When comparing the poverty level of racially concentrated systems, a clear divide emerges. Predominantly white districts are far better off than their heavily nonwhite peers. These statistics confirm what we know about

income

EDBUILD | FRONTIER

The city of Indianapolis once formed the center of Marion County, Indiana. But in 1969, city officials sought to merge the city and county governments in order to

EDBUILD | OUR TEAM

Marc DePoe Senior Developer. Marc DePoe joined EdBuild because he knows that a quality education is a fundamental right for every student. Working as EdBuild's Developer, Marc plays a crucial role in developing and maintaining our database architecture, and translating our policy ideas into interactive solutions for our stakeholders.

EDBUILD | DATA

Data Sources. To create the school district border dataset, EdBuild used the following data sources. • School district boundaries: geography for school district borders come from the US Census Bureau, Education Demographic and Geographic Estimates Program (EDGE), Composite School District Boundaries File. School district area, in square miles, is calculated for each year based on these

UPDATED 2020

of the country’s most segregating school district borders, the figures are similar. In Michigan, which has six borders numbered among the nation’s most segregating, the poverty line also amounts to 39%

of the

EDBUILD | FUNDED

Fund ed is an interactive web tool that aggregates and standardizes information regarding each state’s education funding laws. The intent of this site is to provide easy access to detailed policy descriptions and enable clear state-to-state comparisons. In almost every state, public education is funded based on a formula that calculates how much the state expects each school district to need

EDBUILD | FRONTIER

Frontier. School District Borders and the Pursuit of Educational Opportunity. The city of Indianapolis once formed the center of Marion County, Indiana. But in 1969, city officials sought to merge the city and county governments in order to grow the city’s tax base and spur economic growth. The plan faced one large hurdle: the city school

EDBUILD | FUNDED

A National Overview of State Education Funding Policies. Click any of the issue buttons below to see a map of all fifty states’ funding policies regarding that issue area. The legend on the left describes the issue area and lists the policy options; click the information icon next to each color-coded option for more information about the

EDBUILD | DISMISSED

Dismissed: America’s Most Divisive Borders. Thirteen districts surround Philadelphia’s public school system. Two-thirds of these neighboring school systems are at least 25 percentage points whiter, and have a minimum of 10% more funding—an average of over $5,000 more in per-pupil dollars. One of these, Lower Merion, is consistently

named

EDBUILD | VIZ

more_vert Dividing Lines: Gated School Districts . Our current school funding system often bolsters school district boundaries between rich and poor, holding resources in wealthy communities and keeping low-income students from accessing broader opportunities. EDBUILD | SEGREGATING States have a responsibility to make sure that school systems are fair and logical, so that all children can receive a quality education. When communities secede it is typically for their own benefit, but these changes have far reaching repercussions, well beyond their new borders. Outdated. Arbitrary. Segregating.

EDBUILD | OUR TEAM

Email Rebecca. RebeccaSibilia. Rebecca Sibilia. Founder / CEO. Rebecca Sibilia launched EdBuild in June of 2014. Prior to starting EdBuild, Rebecca served as the Chief Operating Officer and Vice President for Fiscal Strategy at StudentsFirst. In her fiscal strategy role, she led a team in analyzing per-pupil funding levels and state funding EDBUILD | HOMESYSTEM IS BROKENWAYS TO FIX ITTOOLS TO HELPDIVE DEEPERFEATURED COVERAGEFORMER STAFF Ed Build was an organization that worked to bring common sense and fairness to the way states fund public schools. Here, you can find EdBuild’s work and learn about school funding problems and

solutions.

EDBUILD | HOME

more_vert Frontier . School district borders have power. They matter for school funding, home values, and diversity—and they can be drawn to either narrow or widen opportunity gaps.

UPDATED 2020

of the country’s most segregating school district borders, the figures are similar. In Michigan, which has six borders numbered among the nation’s most segregating, the poverty line also amounts to 39%

of the

EDBUILD | BUILDING EQUITY: FAIRNESS IN PROPERTY TAX EFFORT Building Equity: Fairness in Property Tax Effort for Education Feb 21, 2017. If public education is meant to provide every child, no matter his or her background, with the opportunity to learn, grow, and thrive, then funding for public schools must be raised in a way that is aligned with this mission: fairly and equitably, in a manner that supports rather than harms needy communities. EDBUILD | 23 BILLION The story of our communities can in many ways be told through the lens of the school districts that serve our children. More than organizations that enable learning, school districts are geographic boundaries that serve as magnifying lenses that allow us to focus on issues of race and wealth.

EDBUILD | FUNDED

Use the options below to generate reports regarding state education funding policy. The standard reports can be generated for any single state or any single issue area, or for any pair of states. These reports can include any level of detail (summary, intermediate, or

in-depth).

EDBUILD | FUNDED

Fund ed: Charters is a web tool that aggregates and standardizes information regarding each state’s charter school funding laws.The intent of this site is to enable better state-to-state comparisons and provide easy access to detailed information related to state

EDBUILD | FRONTIER

The city of Indianapolis once formed the center of Marion County, Indiana. But in 1969, city officials sought to merge the city and county governments in order to

EDBUILD | FUNDED

West Virginia expects school districts to contribute revenue to the funding of public schools. The amount each district is expected to raise for its education costs is based on its property values: each district is expected to contribute $1.94 for every $1,000 of assessed tangible agricultural property wealth, $3.88 for every $1,000 of assessed owner-occupied property wealth, including farms EDBUILD | RACE AND REVENUE The story of our communities can in many ways be told through the lens of the school districts that serve our children. More than organizations that enable learning, school districts are geographic boundaries that serve as magnifying lenses that allow us to focus on issues of race and wealth. EDBUILD | HOMESYSTEM IS BROKENWAYS TO FIX ITTOOLS TO HELPDIVE DEEPERFEATURED COVERAGEFORMER STAFF Ed Build was an organization that worked to bring common sense and fairness to the way states fund public schools. Here, you can find EdBuild’s work and learn about school funding problems and

solutions.

EDBUILD | HOME

more_vert Frontier . School district borders have power. They matter for school funding, home values, and diversity—and they can be drawn to either narrow or widen opportunity gaps.

UPDATED 2020

of the country’s most segregating school district borders, the figures are similar. In Michigan, which has six borders numbered among the nation’s most segregating, the poverty line also amounts to 39%

of the

EDBUILD | BUILDING EQUITY: FAIRNESS IN PROPERTY TAX EFFORT Building Equity: Fairness in Property Tax Effort for Education Feb 21, 2017. If public education is meant to provide every child, no matter his or her background, with the opportunity to learn, grow, and thrive, then funding for public schools must be raised in a way that is aligned with this mission: fairly and equitably, in a manner that supports rather than harms needy communities. EDBUILD | 23 BILLION The story of our communities can in many ways be told through the lens of the school districts that serve our children. More than organizations that enable learning, school districts are geographic boundaries that serve as magnifying lenses that allow us to focus on issues of race and wealth.

EDBUILD | FUNDED

Use the options below to generate reports regarding state education funding policy. The standard reports can be generated for any single state or any single issue area, or for any pair of states. These reports can include any level of detail (summary, intermediate, or

in-depth).

EDBUILD | FUNDED

Fund ed: Charters is a web tool that aggregates and standardizes information regarding each state’s charter school funding laws.The intent of this site is to enable better state-to-state comparisons and provide easy access to detailed information related to state

EDBUILD | FRONTIER

The city of Indianapolis once formed the center of Marion County, Indiana. But in 1969, city officials sought to merge the city and county governments in order to

EDBUILD | FUNDED

West Virginia expects school districts to contribute revenue to the funding of public schools. The amount each district is expected to raise for its education costs is based on its property values: each district is expected to contribute $1.94 for every $1,000 of assessed tangible agricultural property wealth, $3.88 for every $1,000 of assessed owner-occupied property wealth, including farms EDBUILD | RACE AND REVENUE The story of our communities can in many ways be told through the lens of the school districts that serve our children. More than organizations that enable learning, school districts are geographic boundaries that serve as magnifying lenses that allow us to focus on issues of race and wealth.

EDBUILD | OUR TEAM

Marc DePoe Senior Developer. Marc DePoe joined EdBuild because he knows that a quality education is a fundamental right for every student. Working as EdBuild's Developer, Marc plays a crucial role in developing and maintaining our database architecture, and translating our policy ideas into interactive solutions for our stakeholders. EDBUILD | COMMON SENSE AND FAIRNESS District and school leaders should be treated as responsible decision-makers when it comes to education spending. This means that they are provided with sufficient resources to serve their students; that they have the flexibility to operate in the way that works best for their students and communities; and that they are held accountable to ensure that spending decisions support success for all

UPDATED 2020

of the country’s most segregating school district borders, the figures are similar. In Michigan, which has six borders numbered among the nation’s most segregating, the poverty line also amounts to 39%

of the

EDBUILD | PROBLEMS

more_vert Fault Lines: America's Most Segregating School District Borders . The borders of many school districts serve to concentrate poverty in their classrooms and separate their students from resources. This report identifies the borders that create the greatest

degree

MAKING CHANGE

6 VERMONT’S ACT 60 Introduction In 1997, the landmark Vermont Supreme Court decision Brigham v. State of Vermont spurred immediate legislative action, resulting in the passage of the Equal Educational Opportunity Act (Act 60) that same year.viii This bill represented a fundamental shift in thinking related to the state’s responsibility to provide quality public education EDBUILD | DIVIDING LINES Dividing Lines 2013-2018. This map can display the following data for school districts in each year between 2013 and 2018: Student poverty rates, per-pupil revenues (adjusted for differences in local cost of living), income levels, property values, and racial demographics. EDBUILD | CLEAN SLATE This is because high-wealth districts often move the goalposts, raising extra local funds that states simply can’t afford to match. Moreover, the revenues that states raise to fill in the gaps—most often derived from income, sales, and, energy taxes—are much more volatile than property taxes, making them more susceptible to cuts.

EDBUILD | FUNDED

Fund ed: Charters is a web tool that aggregates and standardizes information regarding each state’s charter school funding laws.The intent of this site is to enable better state-to-state comparisons and provide easy access to detailed information related to state

EDBUILD | IMPACT

National Voice. EdBuild works to raise national awareness related to the current problems with the way states fund public schools. Our data visualizations and policy reports demonstrate the illogical, outdated, and segregating nature of our state funding systems.

EDBUILD | FUNDED

State Policy Breakdown. Click any state to be taken to that state’s education funding policy summary page.

Toggle navigation

* Content

* Works By Category

* System is Broken

* Ways to Fix It

* Tools to Help

* Dive Deeper

* Media

* Featured Coverage

* People

* Former Staff

* Former Board

THE SCHOOL FUNDING SYSTEM IS BROKEN . THERE ARE WAYS TO FIX IT & THERE ARE TOOLS TO GUIDE YOU.

__

EDBUILD WAS AN ORGANIZATION THAT WORKED TO BRING COMMON SENSE AND FAIRNESS TO THE WAY STATES FUND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. HERE, YOU CAN FIND EDBUILD’S WORK AND LEARN ABOUT SCHOOL FUNDING PROBLEMS AND

SOLUTIONS.

School funding systems in America are arbitrary, failing to support students in accordance with their needs. They are inequitable, often producing higher funding levels in low-need, affluent districts than in school systems serving students with greater needs. And they promote division by incentivizing and entrenching segregation along racial and economic lines. EdBuild’s research has demonstrated the depth of these problems and shown the way to a better system. EdBuild was founded with the intention of being a limited-term, catalytic organization. As planned, it closed its doors in June 2020. On this website, you can find its key reports and tools, organized into three primary sections: THE SCHOOL FUNDING SYSTEM IS BROKEN , where you can access reports demonstrating the problems with the current system; THERE ARE WAYS TO FIX IT , where you can learn about solutions to these problems; and THERE ARE TOOLS TO GUIDE YOU, where you can find data and policy information to support reform efforts. At the menu above, you can also find a section called DIVE DEEPER where you can see other past work by EdBuild. Click the cards below to see EdBuild’s research, reports, and tools, organized by category.

A BROKEN SYSTEM

WAYS TO FIX IT

TOOLS TO GUIDE YOU

* © 2016-2021 EdBuild, All Rights Reserved