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State Funding Formula Analysis & Development

Rhode Island Charter School Funding Analysis

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Partner

Rhode Island League of Charter Schools

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Goals

Equip Rhode Island League of Charter Schools with a deeper understanding of the state’s funding formula, how it impacts charter schools and their students, and how a more equitable funding system could be developed

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Results

Created a comprehensive analysis of how schools are funded in Rhode Island and provided recommendations for how the system can be improved to equitably serve all students, schools, and communities

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Chiara Deltito-Sharrott

Executive Director, Rhode Island League of Charter Schools

"It is one thing to educate others about school finance based on hypothetical situations and personal anecdotes. However, it is a completely different experience to be prepared in these conversations with the data resulting from a critical analysis of our state's funding formula. School + State Finance Project has elevated our ability to draw attention to critical issues and to find the common ground necessary for collective change. We could not be any more impressed with their work!"

The foundation for advocating for equitable change is a firm grounding in how current systems impact students, and the opportunities available to improve them. School funding systems can be complex and difficult to understand, even for school leaders, advocates, and policymakers who work within the systems.

Our team has the technical and policy skills and knowledge to deconstruct complex school funding systems to help advocates and school leaders better understand how funding systems work and how they can be strengthened or improved.

Using state and federal data, and conducting structured interviews with charter school leaders, we examined the history and impact of the school funding system in Rhode Island on students and the districts they attend. We identified funding disparities across districts, the components of the school funding system contributing to these disparities, and policy changes that could help Rhode Island fund students more equitably based on their needs, instead of on the tax capacity of the towns they reside in.

Conducting structured interviews with school leaders enabled our team to gain a better understanding of the school funding system in Rhode Island and identify the largest pain points for charter school leaders. By combining qualitative and quantitative analysis, our team identified misalignments of the school funding system that would have been missed by quantitative analysis alone, such as districts opting out of state reimbursements due to a disproportionate administrative burden.

The resulting report provides advocates, school leaders, and policymakers with a deeper understanding of the school funding system in Rhode Island, and recommendations that would provide all students with the resources they need to succeed inside and outside of the classroom.

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