What is a student-based funding policy?
In almost every state, education dollars do not follow students to the schools they attend according to their needs. Instead, funds are distributed based on factors that have little to do with students, such as the number of teachers in a school or the types of educational programs. Such financial practices make it nearly impossible for principals to allocate resources in new and innovative ways. We believe that states could benefit from a system of student-based funding under which a student’s school would receive a certain amount of dollars based on the student’s particular needs and could spend those funds flexibly. Currently, Hawaii is the only state that has a student-based funding policy in which education dollars truly follow the student.
