image: Deborah Verstegen, University of Nevada, Reno, professor of education finance, policy and leadership in the College of Education, recently published her research on public education finance in the Education Policy Analysis Archives. view more
Credit: Photo by Theresa Danna-Douglas.
RENO, Nev. – Although education is the largest share of state and local government budgets, very little comprehensive information has been available on all 50 states related to state financing policies and programs for public elementary and secondary education. A new study provides comprehensive information on public K-12 education finance systems in each state, presented in themes such as funding for special student populations, accountability and equity issues.
Deborah Verstegen, University of Nevada, Reno professor of education finance, policy and leadership in the College of Education, conducted a study of public education finance systems across the United States, surveying all 50 states. She has now authored an article, "Public Education Finance Systems in the United States and Funding Policies for Populations with Special Educational Needs," presenting results and analysis of her research, recently published in the 2011 edition of Education Policy Analysis Archives.
"The apparent neglect of education finance policy research over the past several decades has created a large need for further research and development in this area," Verstegen said. "The search for the best model to use in funding education is a perennial concern and interest."
Earlier this year, Pearson, Inc. published a book by Verstegen and co-authors Vern Brimley Jr. and Rulon R. Garfield that included the survey data, Financing Education in a Climate of Change. Verstegen discussed the survey's results at the National Education Finance Conference this year, where she was one of only 10 scholars in the country to receive a Distinguished Fellow Award in recognition for her work and research in K-12 education finance.
Verstegen is a recognized expert in equal education opportunity, as well as state and federal education finance policy, and has published extensively on these issues. She developed an education equity statistic, later used and named by scholars, the "Verstegen Index." She has consulted for local, state and federal governmental agencies throughout the country, and has repeatedly served as an expert witness in state school finance litigation. She is also the policy editor of the Journal of Education Finance.
"Dr. Verstegen's work is particularly timely and appropriate for policy makers to consider during these troubled economic times," said Chris Cheney, College of Education dean at the University of Nevada, Reno. "Her expertise provides the 'long view' we need when considering how the laws we enact now can affect our educational systems and outcomes in the future."
To view or download Verstegen's entire article in Education Policy Analysis Archives, go to http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/769/923. Education Policy Analysis Archives is a peer-reviewed, open-access, international, multilingual and multidisciplinary journal designed for researchers, practitioners, policy makers and development analysts concerned with education policies.
Nevada's land-grant university founded in 1874, the University of Nevada, Reno has an enrollment of 18,000 students and is ranked in the top tier of the nation's best universities. Part of the Nevada System of Higher Education, the University has the system's largest research program and is home to the state's medical school. With outreach and education programs in all Nevada counties and with one of the nation's largest study-abroad consortiums, the University extends across the state and around the world. For more information, visit www.unr.edu.
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Education Policy Analysis Archives