The Work

The Tennessee Center for Educational Finance and Policy is committed to producing rigorous, impactful research that drives informed policy and practice. Our work is grounded in the belief that an adequate and equitable education is a fundamental right for all students. By leveraging frameworks such as Critical Race Theory and Critical Policy Analysis, the research goes beyond traditional metrics to expose the systemic and historical factors that influence school funding.

In this section, you will find our published articles, policy briefs, and reports. Each piece of research is a step toward understanding the complex landscape of educational finance in Tennessee and providing evidence-based solutions that promote justice, fairness, and opportunity for every student.

The framework was created in Michigan and tested using financial data provided by the Michigan Department of Education. In Michigan, a clear and systemic funding gap exists in the public school system, disproportionately affecting Black students and those from low-income families. The core problem stems from the reliance on local property taxes for school funding. Districts with a higher concentration of Black and low-income students tend to have lower property values. This creates a vicious cycle: communities with less wealth cannot generate as much local tax revenue for their schools, even when they make a greater fiscal effort. The consequences of this are severe and far-reaching: * **Significant Funding Disparity:** A Black student receiving free or reduced-price lunch gets hundreds of dollars less in funding each year compared to their White peers, with the gap being most pronounced when comparing them to affluent White students. * **Strain on Human Resources:** Underfunded urban districts struggle to attract and retain quality educators, as evidenced by high teacher turnover rates of around 30% in places like Detroit and Flint. * **Demographic Segregation:** The system also reinforces a segregated educational landscape, where a large percentage of Black and low-income students are concentrated in specific districts, including charter schools, while their more affluent, White peers are concentrated elsewhere. In essence, the state's school funding system, despite being described as "colorblind," perpetuates a "separate and still unequal" reality where race, income, and geography combine to create profound educational inequities.

Synthesis of Frameworks Used

The research primarily leverages Critical Race Theory and Critical Policy Analysis as conceptual lenses to investigate inequities in Michigan's public school funding system.

Critical Race Theory:
- Asserts that racism is a fundamental and permanent fixture in US society, not merely isolated acts.
- Challenges the idea of colorblindness in policies, arguing that supposedly race-neutral laws can perpetuate racial disparities.
- Highlights the concept of "Whiteness as property," where societal structures and laws bestow privileges and economic advantages based on White identity, often at the expense of people of color.
- Employs intersectionality to understand how multiple identities (e.g., race and class) converge to create unique forms of disadvantage, particularly for Black students receiving Free or Reduced-Price Lunch (FRL).
- Emphasizes the importance of historical context to understand current racial inequities.
- Challenges dominant ideologies and seeks to expose underlying racist ideologies and structures that maintain inequality.
- Utilizes the concept of interest convergence, where advancements for Black people often occur when they align with the interests of White people.
Critical Policy Analysis:
- Complements Critical Race Theory by thoroughly assessing the multifaceted systems and environments in which policy is created and implemented.
- Examines the distinct difference between policy rhetoric and practiced reality.
- Analyzes how social stratifications exist and how policies reinforce these stratifications, affecting the relationship between privilege and inequality.

The studies also incorporate descriptive statistics and quantitative analysis as analytic techniques to investigate relationships between race, income, school funding, and educational outcomes in Michigan.

Comparing resource-allocation practices on student performance between charter public schools and traditional public schools (2019). Doctoral dissertation, University of Michigan.

Frameworks Used: While not explicitly stating Critical Race Theory or Critical Policy Analysis, this dissertation lays the groundwork by examining marketplace competition in education through a lens of equity and resource allocation, implicitly touching upon disparities that would later be explored through critical race theory. The study uses quantitative methods, including descriptive statistics, t-tests, and multiple regression analyses.
Outcomes:
- Student Proficiency: Charter public schools showed statistically significant higher proficiency in English Language Arts (ELA) and math compared to traditional public schools in grades 3 and 5 for the 2014-2017 school years.
- Student Growth: Charter public schools showed statistically significant higher growth in ELA for grade 5 in 2016-2017, but no significant difference in math growth for grade 5.
- Revenue and Expenditures Impact on Performance: Multiple regression models indicated that total revenue and expenditures generally had a statistically significant impact on student proficiency, with special education enrollment being a consistent linear predictor. However, for growth, total revenue and expenditures did not consistently predict significant results.
- Return on Investment (ROI) and Resource Allocation: No statistically significant overall spending differences were found between charter and traditional public schools. Traditional public schools had a slightly higher average ROI over three years (1% vs. 0% for charter schools). Operationally, both school types were found to be similar, which means the marketplace competition policy did not effectively create better resource allocation or significantly improve student performance in the urban context studied.
- Special Education Impact: Traditional public schools had more than twice the special education student population compared to charter schools, and special education enrollment was found to be a statistically significant factor impacting student performance. This suggests that charter schools may have an advantage in performance due to a lower proportion of students with higher-cost needs.

An investigation to explain structural racism associated with Michigan public charter districts funding effort (2021).

Caldwell, P. II, Smart, R. E., & Richardson, J. T. (2021). An investigation to explain structural racism associated with Michigan public charter districts funding effort. Journal of Education Human Resources, 39(2), 165–183.

Frameworks Used: This study explicitly applies Critical Race Theory to analyze Michigan's public school funding, focusing on how race, income, and property wealth intersect to create funding inequities, particularly for Black students in charter districts. It uses quantitative analysis (descriptive statistics) of school finance data.
Outcomes:
- Charter District Demographics: Black students and students receiving FRL are overrepresented in Michigan's charter districts. Approximately 30% of Black FRL students attend charter schools, compared to 3% of White non-FRL students. Charter districts are also more concentrated in urban areas.
- Funding Disparities: Michigan's charter districts receive less per-pupil funding from state and local sources compared to traditional and "hold harmless" districts. While state funding is roughly equal, local revenue is significantly lower for charter schools because they cannot levy local property taxes. This disproportionately impacts low-income Black students who attend these charter schools.
- Local Fiscal Effort and Property Wealth: Black families and communities, on average, reside in districts with lower property wealth but exhibit a higher local fiscal effort (committing a greater proportion of their property wealth to education) than White communities. Despite this higher effort, they receive less per-pupil funding due to the lower property values.
- Zero-Sum Funding: The inability of charter districts to receive local tax millages means that local education tax revenues not allocated to charter students are redistributed to the traditional "home" districts. This creates a zero-sum trade-off where traditional districts benefit from the foregone local tax revenue of charter students, many of whom are Black and FRL.
- Reinforcement of Structural Racism: The continued reliance on local property taxation in Michigan's school finance system, coupled with historical housing policies and residential segregation, reinforces structural racism and discrimination against Black students, perpetuating a self-reinforcing system of socioeconomic subordination.

The Intersectionality of Educating Black Students in Michigan: Public School Finance, Racial Segregation, and Housing Policy (2022).

Caldwell, P. II, Richardson, J. T., Smart, R. E., & Polega, M. (2022). The Intersectionality of Educating Black Students in Michigan: Public School Finance, Racial Segregation, and Housing Policy. Journal of Education Human Resources, 40(4), 524-563.

Frameworks Used: This article explicitly and extensively applies Critical Race Theory, particularly focusing on the centrality of race and racism, whiteness as property, intersectionality of identities, and challenging dominant ideologies. It also examines historical contextual perspectives. Quantitative analysis using descriptive statistics is employed.
Outcomes:
- Funding Disparities and Labor Costs: The study found significant funding disparities. The average Black student receiving FRL receives $414 less per pupil per year than the average White student receiving FRL, and $783 less than the average White student who does not receive FRL. These disparities are primarily due to differences in locally sourced district revenues tied to property wealth. When adjusting for higher labor costs in urban areas (where most Black students live), the disparity for Black FRL students widens to $411 less per pupil annually compared to White FRL students. This adjusted figure implies a $1,364 annual per-pupil deficit for a district with all Black FRL students compared to a district with no Black FRL students, equating to $1,364,000 less annually for a district of 1,000 such students, enough to hire 21-24 additional teachers.
- Property Wealth Disparities: There is a strong negative relationship between taxable value per pupil and the percentage of Black and FRL students. A one-percentage-point increase in Black and FRL students is associated with a $2,354 decrease in taxable property value per pupil. This means a district with all Black FRL students would have $235,400 less taxable value per pupil than a district with no such students.
- Local Fiscal Effort: Black students, on average, live in districts that commit a higher proportion of their property wealth to education, yet still receive less per-pupil funding due to lower property wealth.
- Impact of Proposal A: While Proposal A aimed to equalize state per-pupil funding, it failed to address the inequities stemming from reliance on local property taxes and the disproportionate concentration of Black students in areas with lower property wealth and higher costs of living. The "hold harmless" provision further benefits wealthier districts.
- Segregation and Outcomes: Racial and residential segregation in Michigan (e.g., Detroit) leads to Black students disproportionately attending high-poverty schools with fewer resources, negatively impacting academic achievement, college enrollment, future wages, and overall health.

The Crisis of Michigan's Public School Funding and Its Influence on Human Resources Management (2023).

Smart, R. E., Caldwell, P. II, Richardson, J. T., & Sim, G. (2023). The Crisis of Michigan's Public School Funding and Its Influence on Human Resources Management. Journal of Education Human Resources, 41(3), 467–508.

Frameworks Used: This study builds upon previous work by integrating Critical Race Theory and Critical Policy Analysis to examine the historical and current public school funding structures in Michigan and their exacerbating effects on Human Resources Management (HRM), particularly in districts serving high percentages of Black and under-resourced students. It uses quantitative analysis of financial health indicators and funding equity measures.
Outcomes:
- HRM Challenges: Urban public school HR units in Michigan face significant challenges in recruiting, retaining, and compensating effective and diverse educators due to inadequate funding. These districts often cannot offer adequate instructional programs.
- Teacher Turnover: High teacher turnover rates (an average of 30% in Flint and Detroit) are a direct consequence of these funding and staffing challenges, particularly in districts with high percentages of Black and under-resourced students. Minority teachers are disproportionately affected.
- Persistent Inequities in Funding: Michigan's school funding system, through its reliance on local property taxation and policies like Proposal A's "hold harmless" provision, perpetuates structural racism. Wealthier, predominantly White districts benefit from higher property values and can raise more local taxes, allowing them to better staff their schools. In contrast, districts with high percentages of Black and FRL students have significantly lower taxable property values, leading to fewer financial resources for HR units.
- Disparity in Financial Health: Financial health indicators show that districts with higher proportions of Black students tend to have lower average financial profile scores, often falling under "financial early warning" or "financial watch" categories. This indicates a strained capacity for their HR units.
- Special Education Funding Burden: Michigan's policy of only covering 29% of special education costs places a significant financial burden on urban districts, forcing them to divert general education funds, further straining HR budgets for curriculum, training, and recruitment.
- Policy Rhetoric vs. Reality: Despite the "colorblind" language of Proposal A, the policy has not achieved equitable funding. Instead, it reinforces historical discriminatory practices, leading to a "separate and still unequal" system where disinvested districts struggle to provide adequate educational opportunities.