Tools & Publications

ERS Tools and Publications are trusted resources for education leaders, practitioners, and policymakers seeking guidance to make transformative change. Looking for something you can’t find? Contact us.

Budget Hold'em for Districts

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Student-Based Budgeting State Leaders

ERS’ Work in California: Ensuring Every Child Is Ready for Tomorrow

State Leaders States
February 12, 2019

Seizing the Moment for Transformation—Whether Facing School Budget Cuts or Adding Back Revenue

Nine ways school systems can empower schools and restructure resources for student success More »

District Leaders Teaching State Leaders Funding & Portfolio
January 2019

Transforming School Funding: A Guide to Implementing Student-Based Budgeting

Student-Based Budgeting (SBB) allocates dollars based on enrollment and student need. In this blog, you will find tools and key elements for decision making as you consider SBB for your... More »

District Leaders Equity Student-Based Budgeting Funding & Portfolio
November 08, 2018

Resource Equity: A Primer for State Boards of Education

At the 2018 NASBE annual conference, Karen Hawley Miles presented on Strategies to Foster Resource Equity to an audience of about 100 state leaders More »

Equity State Leaders States
August 2018

Weighted Student Funding

Weighted Student Funding has become a popular initiative for district leaders who seek to allocate scarce resources to schools, especially in the face of stubborn achievement gaps,... More »

Presentations District Leaders Student-Based Budgeting Funding & Portfolio
September 10, 2018

Toolkit: What is Student-Based Budgeting? How can it drive student learning?

SBB is a funding system whereby dollars follow students based on student need, and can help increase funding transparency, equity, and flexibility. More »

Equity District Leaders Student-Based Budgeting Funding & Portfolio Toolkits
June 2018

Low Teacher Salaries 101

In 40 states, the real value of teacher salaries declined from 2010 to 2015. How we got here, why it matters, and how we can pay teachers fairly and strategically. More »

Compensation District Leaders State Leaders
June 05, 2018

Addressing the Teacher Labor Market Challenge in Arizona

Arizona spends less on K-12 education than almost every other state. But adding resources on top of the current system is likely an ineffective solution. More »

Presentations ESSA Equity State Leaders
March 07, 2018

Finding a Path Toward Equity

With the passage of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) in 2013, California began the process of revolutionizing its school funding system. The LCFF aimed to make the California... More »

Publications Equity State Leaders Funding & Portfolio
March 6, 2018

Toolkit: Advancing Equitable School Funding under ESSA

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) gives states new financial transparency tools to better understand and become leaders for resource equity, but only if they are used well. These... More »

Presentations ESSA State Leaders States
May 2017

It Takes a System: A Case Study of Denver Public Schools (DPS)

Over the last decade, Denver Public Schools (DPS) became one of the fastest-improving large districts in the country—achieving significant improvement across all student subgroups. Unlike... More »

Publications Special Education Compensation District Leaders School Design Professional Learning Student-Based Budgeting Teaching School Leaders Leadership Funding & Portfolio School Support & Accountability Turnaround
February 07, 2017

From Financial Transparency to Equity: Part 1

This brief summarizes the insights from a working group that sought to answer: How might we allocate resources to achieve the best outcomes for kids? More »

Publications ESSA District Leaders Equity State Leaders States
December 09, 2016

ESSA Financial Reporting: Implications for Resource Equity

Webinar led by ERS and EdCounsel More »

ESSA Presentations State Leaders Funding & Portfolio States
November 10, 2016

ERS Comments on ESSA Supplement, Not Supplant Regulation

Our comments target strategies that promote both equity and excellence—in other words, how many resources schools receive and how well they use them. We argue that while it is indeed... More »

ESSA Publications State Leaders
October 06, 2016

ESSA Financial Reporting Requirement

Under ESSA, districts must report per-pupil spending at the LEA and school level using actual salary data. This new level of financial transparency aims to promote equity across schools.... More »

ESSA Publications District Leaders State Leaders
September 2016

7 Tenets for Sustainable School Turnaround

A collaboration between Center for American Progress and Education Resource Strategies on the 7 tenets for states to empower districts to become agents of change in school turnaround. More »

Publications ESSA State Leaders Turnaround
May 2016

Transform Now

School System must better meet the needs of all students. And they can. But to succeed, we can't just do more of the same. We need to transform. Building off of One Vision, Seven... More »

Publications District Leaders School Leaders State Leaders
May 2016

Widening the View

We interview nearly 20 district and county leaders across California and make a set of proposals to ensure the Local Control Funding Formula succeeds in increasing achievement for all... More »

Publications State Leaders Funding & Portfolio
February 2, 2017

A Vision for Partnership Between Districts and States

Under ESSA, state education agencies have the opportunity to establish a new vision for partnership with districts - one based on their powers to allocate, regulate, and importantly,... More »

Publications District Leaders State Leaders States
May 28, 2015

Fulfilling the Promise of LCFF

In 2013 California adopted a new funding formula that includes a significant reinvestment in public education after years of budget cuts. The new law, called the Local Control Funding... More »

Publications State Leaders Funding & Portfolio
May 2015

Following the Dollars to the Classroom Door

More and more districts—and several states—are adopting funding models like student-based budgeting (also called weighted student funding or fair student funding) to increase equity... More »

Publications School Design District Leaders Student-Based Budgeting School Leaders Funding & Portfolio
February 2015

Six Opportunities to Restructure Education Resources in Georgia

From 2012 to 2013, ERS partnered with the Georgia Department of Education to address how the state and a few districts manage their resources. These reports highlight three opportunities... More »

Presentations Student-Based Budgeting State Leaders Funding & Portfolio States
December 2014

Spinning Straw into Gold

K–12 education resources are often allocated non-strategically, with schools spending time and money on activities that have little relationship to student outcomes. States can help... More »

Publications State Leaders School Support & Accountability States
May 2014

Seizing the Moment for Transformation in California

In 2013 California adopted a new funding formula that significantly reinvests in public education. We offer seven ideas for how districts can seize this moment of change to transform how... More »

Publications ESSA State Leaders Funding & Portfolio
April 15, 2014

Student-Based Budgeting Webinar

The following is a video recording of our April 3 webinar on student-based budgeting, based off our recent publication, "Transforming School Funding: A Guide to Implementing Student-Based... More »

Presentations District Leaders Student-Based Budgeting Funding & Portfolio
December 2013

Video Lesson: Budgeting for Equity

"Budgeting for Equity" was a video lesson given by ERS' Executive Director Karen Hawley Miles. The lesson focuses on three things:- defining funding equity in school systems- identifying... More »

Presentations Videos District Leaders Equity Student-Based Budgeting Funding & Portfolio
June 2013

Student-Based Budgeting Video

This short video was created to offer advice to principals considering implementing a student-based budgeting system, also known as weighted-student funding. More »

Videos Student-Based Budgeting Funding & Portfolio
June 2013

Spare Some Change: Smarter District Resource Use for Transformational Schools

As a part of Pathways to Success for Milwaukee Public Schools, a project of the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, the authors identify characteristics of an effective funding system in... More »

Publications School Design Student-Based Budgeting Teaching Funding & Portfolio
March 23, 2013

DREAM

You can do less with less, or you can change your district's cost model by rethinking how schools and systems are structured. DREAM allows you to adjust key cost levers in your district... More »

Tools District Leaders Student-Based Budgeting Teaching Turnaround
March 12, 2013

VUE: Voices in Urban Education

The Annenberg Institute for School Reform’s Voices in Urban Education publication, produced in partnership with ERS, grew from the ERS-convened Fair Student Funding Summit in March 2010.... More »

Publications Student-Based Budgeting Funding & Portfolio

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