New & In Progress Working Papers
Baker, B.D. (2026, October). From the Right to Education to the Distribution of Resources: Testing U.S. School Finance Equity Metrics in Mexico, Brazil and France. Working Paper. PDF
Baker, B.D. (2026, October). Counting the Cost of Human Capital: School Funding Adequacy, Achievement, Attainment and State Economic Growth, 1997–2024. Working Paper. PDF
Baker, B.D. (2026, October). Do Strong Public Schools Breed Elite Private Ones? Public System Strength and the Supply of Well-Resourced Independent Schools. Working Paper. PDF
Baker, B.D. (2026, October). Not the Mere Creature of Anyone: Parental Control, Public Money, and the Case for Children’s Educational Rights. Working Paper (Draft Law Review Article). PDF
Baker, B.D. (2026). Technical Efficiency in Producing Educational Outcomes. Working Paper. PDF
Baker, B.D. (2026). Cost Efficiency of U.S. School Districts: Stochastic Frontier Evidence from the National Education Cost Model. Working Paper. PDF
Baker, B.D. (2026, October). Cost First, Efficiency Second: A Cost-Adjusted Production Approach to Evaluating School District Efficiency. Working Paper. PDF
Articles
Baker, Bruce D., and Daniel J. Losen. (2026). Unpacking Racial Disparities in School Spending: Why “progressiveness” and “comparability” are not enough. (EdWorkingPaper: 26-1558). Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University: https://doi.org/10.26300/erbj-7k94
Baker, B.D. (2025) Equal Educational Opportunity for All: From Short Term Resistance to Project 2029. Draft Working Paper 5-16-2025
Green, Preston and Saldaña, Christopher and Bruce, Baker and Mead, Julie, PRESERVING RURAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS FROM THE THREAT OF VOUCHERS AND CHARTERS (September 16, 2025). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract= Idaho Law Review, 62
Baker, B. D. (2025). How and why racial isolation affects education costs and the provision of equal educational opportunity. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 33. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.33.8843
Weber, M., & Baker, B. D. (2025). Does School Funding Matter in a Pandemic? COVID-19 Instructional Models and School Funding Adequacy. AERA Open, 11. https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584251327581 (Original work published 2025)
Baker, Bruce D., Derek Black, Joshua Cowen, Preston Green, and Jennifer L. Jennings. (2025). A Framework for Evaluating and Reforming School Vouchers. (EdWorkingPaper: 25 -1142). Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University: https://doi.org/10.26300/cx43-tr11
Baker, Bruce D.. (2025). Framework for Evaluating & Reforming Education Finance Systems. (EdWorkingPaper: 25 -1127). Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University: https://doi.org/10.26300/pa0r-n548
Baker, Bruce D.. (2024). How and Why Racial Isolation Affects Education Costs & the Provision of Equal Educational Opportunity. (EdWorkingPaper: 24 -1047). Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University: https://doi.org/10.26300/fy6k-4v18
Baker, B.D., Di Carlo, M., Green, P.C. III (2023) Understanding the First, Second, and Third Order Effects on Disparities in K-12 Funding and Outcomes. Poverty and Race Research Action Council Poverty & Race, Volume 32, No.2 (April – July 2023) https://www.prrac.org/understanding-the-first-second-and-third-order-effects-on-disparities-in-k-12-funding-and-outcomes-april-july-2023-pr-journal/
Baker, B.D., Di Carlo, M., Weber, M. (2023) Incentivizing Equity: A New Way to Distribute Federal Aid and Spur Adequate Funding for All. American Educator, Spring https://www.aft.org/ae/spring2023/baker_dicarlo_weber
Weber, Mark, and Bruce D. Baker. (2023). Does School Funding Matter In a Pandemic? COVID-19 Instructional Models and School Funding Adequacy. (EdWorkingPaper: 23-736). Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University: https://doi.org/10.26300/406b-hy46
Baker, B.D. (2022) Toward Equitable and Adequate Financing of U.S. Public Schools: Implications for Brazilian Education. FINEDUCA – Revista de Financiamento da Educação
Oberfield, Z., Baker, B.D. (2022) The politics of progressivity: Court-ordered reforms, racial difference, and school finance fairness. American Educational Research Journal
Green, P.C., Baker, B.D., Oluwole, J. (2021) School Finance, Race & Reparations. Washington & Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3766279
Kolbe, T., Baker, B.D., Atchison, D., Levin, J. (2021) The Additional Cost of Operating Rural Schools: Evidence from Vermont. AERA Open https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2332858420988868
Baker, B.D., Weber, M., Srikanth, A. (2021) Informing Federal School Finance Policy with Empirical Evidence: A National Education Cost Model Approach. Journal of Education Finance https://muse.jhu.edu/article/806389/summary
Baker, B.D., Srikanth, A., Cotto, R., & Green III, P.C.(2020). School funding disparities and the plight of Latinx children.Education Policy Analysis Archives, 28(135). https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.28.5282
Baker, B.D., Weber, M., Atchison, D. (2020) Weathering the storm: School funding in the COVID-19 era. Phi Delta Kappan https://kappanonline.org/school-funding-covid-19-baker-weber-atchison/
Baker. B.D., Cotto, R. (2020) School Funding’s Latinx Second Cities Problem. Phi Delta Kappan https://kappanonline.org/underfunding-latinx-serving-school-districts-baker-cotto/
Baker, B. D., & Chingos, M. M. (2019). Toward a Rich Data Future for School Finance Research. AERA Open, 5(4), 2332858419887735. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2332858419887735
Opinion Pieces
Green, P.C., Baker, B.D. (2021) How reparations can be paid through school finance reform. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/how-reparations-can-be-paid-through-school-finance-reform-164546
Baker, B.D., Cotto, R., Green, P.C. III (2021) Fixing Connecticut School Finance: The Time is Now. CT Mirror. https://ctmirror.org/category/ct-viewpoints/fixing-connecticut-school-finance-the-time-is-now/
Baker, B.D., Green, P.C. (2020) Should plaintiffs in a U.S. Supreme Court ruling about school choice be careful what they wish for? How the impacts of a decision on Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue could differ from expectations. Hechinger Report https://hechingerreport.org/opinion-should-plaintiffs-in-a-supreme-court-ruling-about-school-choice-be-careful-what-they-wish-for/
Black, D., Baker, B.D., Green, P.C. (2019) Charter Schools Exploit Lucrative Loophole that Would Be Easy to Close. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/charter-schools-exploit-lucrative-loophole-that-would-be-easy-to-close-111792
Think Tank Reviews
Baker, B.D. (2025). NEPC Review: Wisconsin’s most cost-effective K-12 program. Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center. Retrieved [date] from https://nepc.colorado.edu/review/cost-effective
Baker, B.D. (2024). NEPC review: Pennsylvania’s education tax credit scholarships: How EITC serves children and families in the commonwealth. Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center. Retrieved [date] from http://nepc.colorado.edu/review/tax-credits
Baker, B.D. (2024). NEPC review: K-12 school choice calculator. Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center. Retrieved [date] from http://nepc.colorado.edu/review/calculator
Baker, B.D. (2023). NEPC review: Think again: Is education funding in America still unequal? Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center. Retrieved [date] from http://nepc.colorado.edu/review/education-funding
Baker, B.D. (2023). NEPC review: Equal is not good enough: An analysis of school funding across the U.S. and within each state and Balancing act: How states can address local wealth inequity in education finance. Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center. Retrieved [date] from http://nepc.colorado.edu/thinktank/school-funding
Baker, B.D. (2022). NEPC review: From school aid to student aid: Modernizing
K-12 funding in Michigan. Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center. Retrieved [date] from
http://nepc.colorado.edu/thinktank/mi-funding
Baker, B.D. (2021). NEPC review: Education Savings Accounts: How ESAs can promote educational freedom for New York families. Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center. Retrieved [date] from http://nepc.colorado.edu/thinktank/esas
Baker, B.D. (2021). NEPC review: Charter school funding: Support for students wih disabilities. Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center. Retrieved [date] from http://nepc.colorado.edu/thinktank/funding-disabilities
Baker, B.D. (2021). NEPC review: The effect of constitutional provisions on education policy and outcome. Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center. Retrieved [date] from http://nepc.colorado.edu/thinktank/constitutional-provisions
Baker, B.D. (2020). NEPC Review: “Unleashing Educational Opportunity: The Untapped Potential of Expanded Tax Credit Scholarships.” Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center. Retrieved [date] from http://nepc.colorado.edu/thinktank/tax-credits
Baker, B.D. (2020). NEPC Review: “Comparing Ed Reforms: Assessing the Experimental Research on Nine K-12 Education Reforms.” Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center. Retrieved [date] from http://nepc.colorado.edu/thinktank/charter-research
Baker. B.D. (2019). NEPC Review: “California Charter Schools: Costs, Benefits, and Impact on School Districts.“Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center. Retrieved [date] from http://nepc.colorado.edu/thinktank/ca-charters
Baker. B.D. (2018). NEPC Review: “Everything You Know About State Education Rankings Is Wrong” and “Fixing the Currently Biased State K-12 Education Rankings.“ Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center. Retrieved [date] from http://nepc.colorado.edu/thinktank/review-rankings
Baker, B.D. (2018). NEPC Review: “Student-Centered State Funding: A How-to Guide for State Policymakers” (The Foundation for Excellence in Education, November 2017). Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center. Retrieved [date] from http://nepc.colorado.edu/thinktank/review-student-centered-funding
