Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0

Author-Name: Nicholas Warner
Author-Workplace-Name: The Center for State and Local Finance, Georgia State University, USA
Author-Workplace-Email: nwarner2@gsu.edu

Title: Georgia's Equalization Grant

Abstract: Georgia’s equalization grant is intended to reduce the funding gap between high and low property wealth districts. Equalization accounts for a significant portion of Georgia’s appropriation for K-12 education for many low property wealth school systems, representing as much as 15 percent of their operating revenues. In general, the equalization grant has been successful in reducing wealth disparities, but in the wake of the Great Recession its efficacy has diminished. The first section of this report describes the basics of the grant calculation and summarizes policy changes that have affected it. The next section discusses the grant’s ability to close the funding gap between low and high property wealth districts. The third section analyzes how reliant districts have been on the equalization grant, measured as a share of total revenue. Next, legislative changes to the equalization grant calculation and their effect on funding levels are outlined, and the final section concludes the report.
Length: 15 pages

Creation-Date: 2019-04

File-URL: https://cslf.gsu.edu/files/2019/04/cslf1905.pdf
File-Format: application/pdf

Handle: RePEc:ays:cslfwp:cslf1905