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A Think Twice Review of:

Weighted Student funding for California

Think Twice - Jun 18, 2013

Publisher/Think Tank - Reason Foundation, Lisa Snell

Author(s) -

The Reason Foundation, a Libertarian think tank, recently issued a brief on California Gov. Jerry Brown’s school finance reform plan, which endorses Brown’s proposal and then uses it to advance its own ideas for reducing the role of school districts and for giving school principals greater autonomy over spending.


Reviewer(s) - Dr. Bruce D. Baker, Rutgers University

According to the review, the Reason report advocates modifying Gov. Brown’s proposal, to link the state funds to individual children, so that “money follows the child” regardless of which school he or she is enrolled in. Baker finds that revising Brown’s proposal with the Reason Foundation recommendations has the potential to more equitably distribute funding across local public school districts. "Yet no data are presented or evaluated to support these claims," according to Baker. The report offers little guidance for policymaking.