Combining State Aid and Local Property Taxes for Quality Education Accessible to All Students
How State Aid and Local Property Taxes Can Together Fund Quality Education for All Students
Summary :
A new report published by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy argues that a combination of local property taxes and state aid is the best way to fund high-quality education for all K-12 students, despite the flaws of each revenue source alone. The report highlights the benefits of property taxes, such as fostering civic engagement and providing stable funding, while explaining how state aid can reduce disparities among school districts. The report also includes state-level case studies to demonstrate the practical nuances of state education finance and recommends targeted state aid to overcome the effects of COVID-19 and close equity gaps. Ultimately, the report offers tools to overcome the shortcomings of both funding sources and achieve adequate and equitable education for all students.
Description :
How State Aid and Local Property Taxes Can Together Fund Quality Education for All Students
By Allison Ehrich Bernstein, November 15, 2022
Local property taxes and state aid each have flaws, but a thoughtful combination of these two revenue sources is the most effective recipe for funding a high-quality K–12 education for all students, according to a new Policy Focus Report published by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.
In Rethinking the Property Tax–School Funding Dilemma, authors Daphne A. Kenyon, Bethany Paquin, and Andrew Reschovsky explain how local property taxes foster civic engagement and provide stable funding, while state aid is critical in reducing disparities among school districts caused by differing levels of property wealth and differences in the money needed to provide high-quality education.
The report explains the advantages of the property tax compared to other local taxes and demonstrates how states can adopt policies to address criticism of the property tax. A well- designed system of state aid can offset differences in per-pupil property values and in the costs of providing quality education. State-funded property tax credits can reduce economic hardships for taxpayers facing high property tax burdens, especially those with low incomes. And unjustified differences in property tax bills among owners of similar properties can be addressed through more frequent and accurate assessments. The authors explain why the majority of states still fail to provide all students an adequate education and recommend policies to strengthen both funding sources with the specific goal of improving student outcomes.
Five state-level case studies illustrate the practical nuances of state education finance and property tax policies and offer important lessons for policy makers.
“As a former state education official, I would have loved to have had a report like this to help me get up to speed on the critical issues around school finance policy,” said Carrie Conaway, former chief strategy and research officer at the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and senior lecturer at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education.
“A perennial target in state education finance legislation, the property tax remains a much-discussed and asked-about topic in my work with state legislatures,” National Conference of State Legislatures Senior Fellow Daniel G. Thatcher agreed.
Rethinking the Property Tax–School Funding Dilemma offers specific reforms that state governments—as well as localities—can make to balance revenue needs, funding realities, and other considerations. The authors stress that targeting state education funding is essential in closing equity gaps and overcoming the persistent effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and their disproportionate impact on students of color, English-language learners, and disabled students.
Ultimately, the authors offer readers the tools for “overcoming the shortcomings of both funding sources, enabling state school funding systems to give all students an adequate, quality education equitably and efficiently.”
The report is available for download on the Lincoln Institute’s website: https://www.lincolninst.edu/publications/policy-focus-reports/rethinking…
Allison Ehrich Bernstein is principal at Allative Communications. Image by kali9 via Getty Images.
Tags: Local Government, Property Taxation, Public Finance, Taxation
sources:
1- melk360.com ,How State Aid and Local Property Taxes Can Together Fund Quality Education for All Students ,2023-04-17 21:10:48
2- https://www.lincolninst.edu/publications/articles/2022-11-how-state-aid-local-property-taxes-can-fund-education-for-all?rand=516
