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Access to Quality K-12 Education

Overview

Despite decades of education reforms, inequity persists in education spending and the availability of qualified teachers. Children from disadvantaged backgrounds frequently begin schooling behind their peers. Experts contend that, as a result, these students need more funding to reach the educational standards of their peers. However, schools with the highest concentration of students in poverty often receive less funding than schools with lower concentrations. States should target funding to these high-poverty districts while creating and enforcing equity standards in all districts.

States also have enormous authority to regulate the teaching profession, and can set requirements to help improve the quality of the teaching workforce across the state. States should implement policies to ensure that teachers are adequately prepared and licensed. States should also ensure that there are strong systems in place for teacher evaluation and retention.

Policy Ratings

To see state-by-state policy data, click here.

Elements of a Strong Policy¹

Based on the expertise of the Education Trust and the National Council on Teacher Quality, CFED considers a state’s educational policies to be strong if they meet the following criteria:

1. Does per-pupil state education spending meet or exceed the national average?² While even the best-funded states may not have enough resources to completely meet their K-12 education needs, some states are leading the rest by investing more in each student.
2. Does the allocation of state education funds meet the needs of poor students? According to research on school finance, students in poverty need more funding than non-poor students to reach the same educational standards. States should adopt funding formulas and allocation mechanisms that provide additional funding to high-poverty districts.
3. Do states ensure that teachers are qualified? In some states, loopholes allow teachers who cannot pass state licensing tests or other certification standards to continue teaching indefinitely. In general, these un- or under-qualified teachers end up in schools in poorer districts. States should close these loopholes entirely. In exceptional circumstances that necessitate allowing limited numbers of teachers additional time to be certified or licensed, states should allow teachers a maximum of one year to meet all licensure requirements.
4. Does the state have strong systems for teacher evaluation and retention? A fair and robust evaluation system helps schools identify teachers’ strengths and weaknesses, reward high-performing teachers, and guide resources to where they are most needed. States should require that teachers be evaluated annually; that evidence of student learning be one component of the teacher evaluation system; and that evaluation results or other measures of effectiveness be included in workforce reduction decisions.

Footnotes

1. CFED acknowledges the expert assistance of Christina Theokas and Sarah Almy of the Education Trust and Sandi Jacobs of the National Council on Teacher Quality.
2. To ensure that states are compared fairly, state spending must be adjusted to account for differences in regional costs. See Resource Guide for details on these calculations.