Dive Brief:

• Researchers from the Commonwealth Institute in Virginia have released a report, "Virginia's Eroding Standards of Quality," which says an outdated funding formula has been shortchanging children in the state to the tune of $800 million annually.
• During the recession of 2008, the state changed its funding formula, and the new report says that it now underestimates the cost of education, with a disproportionate effect felt by poorer districts.
• In particular, the formula placed a cap on the number of school support positions that the state helped fund, which forced local school districts to pay for 12,900 positions or else eliminate jobs.

Dive Insight:

Funding formulas changed after 2008 in various states and each has fared differently. Various states cut school funding after the 2008 recession and never completely restored it. 

A report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says that depressed ed funding results in fewer teachers being hired and/or retained, bigger class sizes, and more limited access to high-quality early education.

That report also showed that Arizona had cut education spending the most with a -23.3% change since the 2007-08 school year. The next four states with the largest cuts are Alabama with -21.4%, Idaho with -16.9%, and Georgia with -16.5%. The poorest state in the nation, Mississippi, ranked in the fifth-worst place with a change of -15.4%. North Dakota, however, was found to have increased spending by +90.7%. 

"Out of the 46 states studied, 31 provided less funding per student in the 2013-14 academic year versus seven years earlier, in 2007-08," Education Dive previously reported.