Equity Funding in Public Schools

Equity funding demands equitable school funding from the perspective of students (receivers of education resources). The definition of “equitable” school funding is not the same all the time but changes with the trend of school finance lawsuits. From the late 1960s to 1980s, equity focused on whether the input resource (funding) was distributed equally. Since the 1990s, the focus has changed to examining whether school funding is adequate for students to achieve final outcomes.

In the United States, although the state is responsible for financing public schools, the main financial duty is operated at the local level (e.g., counties and independent local school districts). Funding for each school, therefore, mainly depends on the revenue from local property tax. The idea of using this tax to fund ...