A plan to gradually shift ongoing pension costs to state universities and community colleges surfaced in the Illinois House Thursday and could be the model for shifting pension costs for K-12 schools.

The Arizona Senate began a final sprint to adjournment Wednesday as a committee debated 10 bills that provide $8.8 billion to fund education, health and welfare, and expansion of Medicaid.

Even though the GOP has a legislative majority, leaders need Democratic support to take money for water from the state's rainy day fund because it requires a two-thirds vote.

Gov. Mike Pence on Wednesday signed into law Indiana's $30 billion, two-year state budget that keeps spending increases below the inflation rate and provides Hoosiers more than a billion dollars in tax cuts.

The chairman of the Appropriations Committee said it worked to fund the state's priorities and recognized the need to maintain a healthy rainy day fund, or cash reserve balance.

gives more than $1 billion to taxpayers over four years through a mixture of corporate, income, inheritance and financial institutions tax cuts. The spending plan includes increased funding for roads, education and child services.

State lawmakers are going down to the wire to negotiate a budget deal, but they haven't even agreed on whether the numbers they're using are real or imaginary.

Tennessee lawmakers approved Gov. Bill Haslam's $32.7 billion budget for the state of Tennessee, including spending increases for government salaries, schools and health care.

Both budget proposals in Indiana increase school funding by three-percent over the next two years, and accelerate the planned phaseout of the inheritance tax.

Because state funding is often deferred for months, charter schools must take out bridge loans to pay the bills. The interest costs come at the expense of pupils.

Public schools grew staffing at a rate four times faster than the increase in students over that time period. Of those personnel, teachers' numbers increased 252 percent, while administrators and other non-teaching staff experienced growth of 702 percent, more than seven times the increase in students.

Research shows that all forms of school choice tried in the United States have led to improvement in academic outcomes for students who remain in public schools or have led to no effect on academic outcomes for students who remain in public schools. Thus, the evidence on academic outcomes is one-sided. Greater school choice does not harm academic outcomes for students who remain in public schools.

America's public schools saw a 96 percent increase in students but increased administrators and other non-teaching staff a staggering 702 percent since 1950, according to a new study of school personnel by the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice.

Prepare to engage in the budget process by familiarizing yourself with the data available and speaking with your school board officials.

ALEC's 17th edition of the Report Card on American Education contains a comprehensive overview of educational achievement levels (performance and gains for low-income students) for the 50 states and the District of Columbia (see full report for complete methodology). The Report Card details what education policies states currently have in place and pro

The sixth-annual Tennessee Pork Report is chock-full yet again, of waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement of taxpayer money by state and local government officials. Despite a changing political landscape in Tennessee, wasteful government spending has not disappeared.

Gov. Mitch Daniels Numerous signed legislation that implemented his wide-ranging reform agenda, including expanding the school options available to Indiana families through vouchers and charter school opportunities and increasing accountability for both schools and teachers.

The proposed House budget would eliminate online learning for grades K-6, displacing more than 2,000 students. This would neither save the state money nor serve the interests of Washington's students.

These data are taken from the National Public Education Finance Survey and show major categories of revenue and expenditure for each public school district for fiscal 2004 through fiscal 2008.

This primer does not make policy recommendations. Instead, it explains how revenues are raised for Michigan's elementary and secondary public school system; how money is distributed to education programs and school districts once it is collected by various taxing authorities; and how districts budget monies for the various activities involved in operating schools and other educational programming.

Schools should receive revenue in the same way that the district receives revenue, on a per-pupil basis reflecting the enrollment at a school and the individual characteristics of students at each school.

Nearly every school system has a "Taj Mahal" tale, whether of grand buildings or fancy stadiums, because they are forced to spend E-SPLOST revenue on capital projects. But Georgians, like all Americans, have been hit hard by the recession and are ready to see government prioritize needs. Our top ten ranking in capital spending for education is a good place to start. Addressing problems like traffic congestion will require more money. But we must first take every available opportunity to realign spending to limit the tax burden on our families and businesses.

This report focuses on limiting the regulatory burden in the state and other types of recommendations to improve growth.

The Texas Public Policy Foundation provides a host of potential budget solutions for the 2011 Texas state budget. Their solutions cover a broad range of categories from education to tax policy. Take a look!

Under current law, most school budgets are first approved by those who are able to attend a district-wide public meeting. That approval is then "validated" by voters through a referendum vote. In this way, those who are unable to attend the district meeting, such as those serving in our armed forces overseas, have an opportunity to make their voices heard.

he report lays out a road map for Colorado policy makers to implement policies that would close next year's billion-dollar budget problem and establish a sustainable trend line for balanced budgets into the future, with no increase in taxes or fees.

Children with disabilities are often poorly served by public schools. In 1999, Florida created a school voucher for children with disabilities called the McKay Scholarship Program. This program allows children with disabilities to take a portion of the funding the state would spend on their education and use it at any school they choose - whether that's a traditional public school, a charter school, an online program, or a private school.

Charter schools are independent public schools authorized through a charter agreement with a
sponsor--usually a school district, state governmental body, or university. Unlike traditional public
schools, charter schools are overseen by a governing board of parents and members of the local
community.

Public education is a huge expense in state budgets.  It is important to know how much of the taxpayer dollars actually reach the classroom and what the taxpayers are getting for that investment.  Here are questions to ask of legislators, school board members and school officials.

Microsoft founder says schools can improve by better utilizing shrinking resources.