Money Matters: Evidence Supporting Greater Investment in PK-12 Public Education. Research Talking Points for Advocates. Fair School Funding: A Resource Equity Report

New research finds that increased spending on public education improves student achievement, thereby debunking the notion that "money doesn't matter" and making the case for greater investment in preschool-12 public education. How money is spent matters, but funding must also be adequate, equitable, and stable from year to year so that districts can be strategic in their spending and not have to cut one school resource to target funding towards another. This was the focus of discussion during a November 30 webinar co-sponsored by Education Law Center, ETS, and the Learning Policy Institute (LPI), featuring leading school finance experts Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond (LPI), Dr. Rucker Johnson (University of California, Berkeley) and Dr. Jesse Rothstein (University of California, Berkeley), with a welcome address by ETS President and CEO Amit Sevak and moderated by ELC's Executive Director David Sciarra. The research distilled within this report was discussed during the webinar and provides policymakers, stakeholders, and advocates with clear and tangible evidence to argue for greater investments in the public schools in their states.