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The State of Education in Arkansas 2008: How Much Are Arkansas Schools Spending | |
by Joshua H. Barnett, Gary W. Ritter, and Brent Riffel April 15, 2008 |
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Introduction In the wake of the landmark Lake View court case, the Arkansas General Assembly has imposed sweeping reforms to the amount and the distribution of resources to Arkansas public schools. Changes enacted during and since the 2003-04 special legislative session were intended to both increase the level of resources and enhance equity by channeling more resources to disadvantaged students. In this report, we assess the extent to which Arkansas has improved the adequacy and equity of the state's school funding system. We find that since the initial 2002 Arkansas Supreme Court ruling, state policymakers have made considerable strides in terms of both adequacy and equity. Indeed, the data presented in this report indicate that the changes to Arkansas' funding formula, which resulted in significant funding increases from 2004-05 to the present, dramatically enhanced the resource adequacy of the public school system. | ||