Reason’s latest K-12 study takes a comprehensive look at resources and outcomes for all 50 states over the past two decades. Bringing together key revenue, expenditure, enrollment, staffing, and NAEP data, here are five key takeaways from our report. reason.org/k12-ed-spending/c… 🧵1/9

Refreshing take on declining enrollment and local funding from a school board member in Arizona.

What state policymakers can do about the K-12 staffing surge—and modernize how teachers are paid.

My latest co-authored piece in @HoustonChron . College football is a microcosm of everything good about America...and Bo French attacked that goodness. houstonchronicle.com/opinion…

Indianapolis’ reforms streamline the investments taxpayers have made in facilities and other services to ensure that they help the most students, not just those enrolled in district schools. reason.org/education-newslet…

In Indiana, more than one in five of publicly funded students attended schools other than their assigned one via charter schools, open enrollment, and private school scholarships during the 2025-26 school year. reason.org/education-newslet… via @ReasonFdn @JudeSchwalbach

"A K–12 finance agenda aimed at transparency, sustainability, and productivity can help state policymakers navigate the decade ahead. The eight policies shared here are just the beginning, but they can kickstart a new era in K–12 finance." — @ASmithAZ buff.ly/OyYugYw

K–12 open enrollment empowers families to match their children with schools that best fit their goals and needs. In Iowa, families attributed their transfers to differences in academic and extracurricular offerings, safety, and convenience, with many also prioritizing welcoming, diverse schools. thegazette.com/news/educatio…

See how teacher staffing levels are changing in your district, via @The74: the74million.org/article/few…

Declining public school enrollment is forcing districts to confront a financial reality they have often postponed: they have fewer students, but many have not reduced their schools, staffing, and spending accordingly. buff.ly/J2ZCvBT

Charters serve nearly 8% of public school students and the research on their effectiveness is overwhelming. Some states have stronger policies than others, but it's not a stretch to say that charter schooling is the most effective K-12 reform in the last three decades. Competition, and diversified a portfolio of choice policies, are good things. Case in point: Arizona came within a whisker of seeing its ESA program downsized at the ballot. Choice policies have tradeoffs, and ESAs have big advantages over charters. But we need them all.

As public schools in most states lose students, at least 14 school districts across eight states have announced school closures this year, writes @JudeSchwalbach. buff.ly/J2ZCvBT

As families get ready for the new school year, nearly 22 million students in 23 states can use universal open enrollment laws to choose a traditional public school other than their residentially assigned school. — @JudeSchwalbach buff.ly/vZ1dvWz

"Clearly, there’s more to the rise in public school staffing than administrative bloat. But why are public schools adding more student support staff and instructional aides to their payrolls?" bit.ly/4baiwQC

"Teacher turnover did spike after the pandemic, but the latest data suggest that spike was fairly consistent across states, and it has largely receded." The rise and fall of teacher turnover - by Chad Aldeman chadaldeman.com/p/the-rise-a…

Bureaucratic hurdles aren’t a good reason to oppose robust K-12 open enrollment laws. Here are three ways that states have already overcome them: realcleareducation.com/artic…

Teacher "strikes more than double the probability that congressional candidates air education campaign ads. Strikes also shape broader support for education funding, resulting in more than $600 increases in district revenues and expenditures per pupil." jhr.uwpress.org/content/61/4…

"The bulk of these new hires were non-teaching staff, a broad category that saw a 22.8 percent increase compared to a 7.6 percent increase in the number of teachers." bit.ly/4baiwQC

Excellent article on who is being hired in our schools and why. An uncomfortable truth is Special Education’s mass increase in diagnosis is leading much of this. Are we over diagnosing? Are we diagnosing because of poor teaching methods as opposed to real disabilities? I’d say yes to both.