The Heartland Institute

The very legislation that nearly provoked riots inside Wisconsin’s capitol saved many school districts from financial ruin or having to fire significant numbers of teachers, concludes a new report from the Education Action Group. The Wisconsin legislature and Gov. Scott Walker (R) passed Act 10 in early 2011. It sparked a weeks ...

The idea of education funding following the child has several names, such as weighted student funding, backpack funding, fair-student funding, student-based budgeting, and results-based budgeting. But the meaning is the same: Education dollars attach to individual students instead of staff positions or programs. The funding is portable ...

Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) has publicly released the salaries of all state employees, including state university professors, and requested detailed financial and enrollment information from all 11 state universities in preparation for higher education policy changes. "I'd like to understand why our universities cost what they cost ...

Ohio Voters Reject Education Tax Increases In approximately two-thirds of northeastern Ohio districts, voters renewed existing tax levies for schools but refused to increase them. Forty-two Cleveland-Akron school districts put property and income tax increases on the ballot in November citing salary freezes, reduced state school ...

Sixty-one percent of Ohio voters yesterday repealed a law restricting collective bargaining and requiring state employees to contribute to their pension and healthcare benefits. The ballot measure, Issue 2, was heavily opposed by state unions, led by the National Education Association and Ohio Education Association. These groups ...

Three Wisconsin school districts have been boosting student performance while using less money and tailored technology, challenges for nearly every district in the nation as tax revenues remain low and U.S. K-12 academic performance remains mediocre. The districts, part of a larger network called Cooperative Education Service Agency ...