Review of A State-Level Perspective on School Spending and Educational Outcomes

DECEMBER 11, 2025

Recent Brookings Report Misrepresents Research Consensus on School Funding

An NEPC Review funded by the Great Lakes Center

Key Takeaway: Despite strong research evidence that increased school funding improves student outcomes, report relies on simplistic statewide comparisons that obscure the true effects of investment in education.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI (DECEMBER 11, 2025) - A large and growing body of high-quality research shows that increased school funding positively affects student outcomes. Yet, as compared to the effect of school funding reported in an authoritative meta-analysis, a new Brookings Institution report examining this relationship finds a much smaller (although still positive) effect.

In his review of A State-Level Perspective on School Spending and Educational Outcomes ,

Rutgers University lecturer and school finance expert Mark Weber explains how the report's reliance on overly simplistic methods prevents it from credibly estimating the true relationship between funding and student outcomes.

As Dr. Weber shows, the report uses comparisons of statewide averages for spending and outcomes (comparing states to states), which masks substantial variations within states that are central to understanding how school resources affect students.

The consensus that more funding leads to better outcomes for students is built on a foundation of high-quality, rigorous evidence. That consensus can and should be tested regularly by ongoing research, using appropriate data and methodologies. It cannot, however, be credibly challenged by a few simplistic correlational analyses, like those applied in the Brookings report.

Consequently, Dr. Weber concludes, little meaningful guidance is offered by the recent report for policymakers seeking to reform school funding policies.

Find the review, by Mark Weber, at:

https://www.greatlakescenter.org

Find A State-Level Perspective on School Spending and Educational Outcomes , authored by Sarah Reber and Gabriela Goodman and published by The Brookings Institution, at: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/a-state-level-perspective-on-school-spending-and-educational-outcomes/

NEPC Reviews ( https://nepc.colorado.edu/reviews ) provide the public, policymakers, and the press with timely, academically sound reviews of selected publications. NEPC Reviews are made possible in part by support provided by the Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice: https://www.greatlakescenter.org .

The mission of the Great Lakes Center for Education Research & Practice is to support and disseminate high-quality research and reviews of research for the purpose of informing education policy and to develop research-based resources for use by those who advocate for education reform.

Visit the Great Lakes Center website at GreatLakesCenter.org

Contacts

Michelle Renee Valladares

Mark Weber