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Education Finance

At CRPE, our previous finance research centered on how funding systems could support the growth of charter schools and portfolio-style governance, with a strong emphasis on equity, transparency, and flexibility in resource allocation. We examined how traditional formulas often disadvantaged schools of choice and studied weighted or student-based funding models that might better match dollars to student needs.

Today, our focus has shifted to how education finance can help schools recover and adapt in the face of disruption. We study how pandemic-era funding was used, what lessons districts learned, and how the expiration of those funds creates new fiscal challenges. We also examine how shifting federal priorities—such as efforts to scale back or restructure education funding—affect schools’ capacity to innovate, sustain supports, and equitably serve all students. Across this evolution, our commitment remains the same: to understand how funding systems can be designed to meet student needs while enabling schools to respond to change.

  • The Lens    

How Can We Get Serious About Successful Pathways for Every Student?

Robin Lake

Twenty-five years ago, CRPE was founded on the idea of the school as the locus of change. We asked, “How can public oversight and funding be made compatible with school effectiveness?” Working outward to identify systemic barriers and solutions brought us to the portfolio strategy, pupil-based funding, recommendations for more effective charter authorizing, new roles for state education agencies, and other policy recommendations.

  • The Lens    

Creating District-Charter Partnerships in the Lone Star State

Sean Gill

The State of Texas passed an innovation law (Senate Bill 1882) in summer 2017 to foster partnership schools, much like those profiled in CRPE’s recent brief.

  • The Lens    

It’s Time to Study Alternative Schools

America is trying to serve an ever-increasing proportion of its most at-risk students outside of traditional high schools. This should be studied carefully.

  • The Lens    

2018 at CRPE: Looking Around the Corner

Robin Lake

At CRPE, our core business is gathering and analyzing evidence to inform education policy and propel systemic improvements. But what makes us unique is our ability to look around the corner to anticipate new challenges and develop bold ideas and pragmatic solutions.

  • Research Reports    

The Slowdown in Bay Area Charter School Growth: Causes and Solutions

Robin Lake, Trey Cobb, Roohi Sharma, Alice Opalka

This report examines why charter school growth in the San Francisco Bay Area has slowed dramatically and offers solutions for cities nationwide to encourage the development of new high-quality schools.

  • The Lens    

Public School Choice, Any Way You Slice It

Christine Campbell, Georgia Heyward

Our new report, Stepping Up: How Are American Cities Delivering on the Promise of Public School Choice?, finds a variety of public school choice available in cities—district-run magnet, innovation, and open-enrollment schools; charter schools overseen by multiple authorizers; and district-charter partnership schools.

  • Research Reports    

Opening the Schoolhouse Door: Helping Charter Schools Access Space in District-Owned Facilities

Sean Gill, Tricia Maas

This paper reviews state policies on providing charter schools with facilities and recommends better incentives for districts to share space.

  • The Lens    

For public school choice, focus on reality—not rhetoric

Robin Lake

School choice is probably the most controversial topic in public education today. The Trump administration’s support for private school vouchers has set off a rhetorical war in Washington that is increasingly playing out in states.

  • Research Reports    

Stepping Up: How Are American Cities Delivering on the Promise of Public School Choice?

Christine Campbell, Georgia Heyward, Betheny Gross, Robin Lake

This analysis examines 18 cities offering public school choice to determine whether 1) their education systems are continuously improving, 2) all their students have equitable access to high-quality schools, and 3) their strategies are rooted in the community.

  • The Lens    

A Flexible “Third Way” Option: Partnership Schools on the Rise

Christine Campbell

Across the country, in Atlanta, Camden, Indianapolis and at least ten other cities, more schools are operating under a kind of partnership school model: a “third way” governance strategy that breaks through district-charter divides.

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