Experts Caution States Considering Holding District Budgets Harmless
February 26, 2021
A new brief from the Edunomics Lab cautions states as an increasing number consider holding district education budgets harmless for shifts in student enrollment, which typically determine state funding allocations. While authors Hannah Jarmolowski and Marguerite Roza say such actions can be a helpful band-aid approach to help curb the impacts of budget losses, “States will want to carefully consider the goals and consequences and duration of any hold harmless approach in their own particular context—and pencil out with their own data whether the net effect is likely to help students in the long run.” The brief includes a number of questions for states to explore as they consider hold harmless provisions, as well as an update on the status of such provisions across the nation.