This paper was commissioned by AEF in the summer of 2022 to help us make the case for revenue limit equity. Dr. Jesse Rothstein, the Carmel P. Friesen Chair in Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, where he is also Professor of Economics. He previously served as Chief Economist at the U.S. Department of Labor and as Senior Economist with the Council of Economic Advisers, Executive Office of the President of the United States. Rothstein’s recent work includes studies of teacher quality and school finance.
Rothstein received a Ph.D. in economics and a Masters in Public Policy, both from the University of California, Berkeley, and an A.B. from Harvard University. He is a member of the editorial boards of Education Finance and Policy, and the National Education Policy Center.

Rothstein’s conclusions include:

*Revenue Limits have persisted over decades–districts at the low end of the revenue limit system in 1993 are almost all still at the low end, making some districts well behind in cumulative funding.
*Revenue Limits are closely tied to spending and loosely to family income
*There is little or no correlation between revenue limits and Forward score most likely because there are many factors that go into achievement
*Higher Revenue Limits are correlated with post-secondary enrollment

In addition, Rothstein performed an analysis of the impact of addition spending on a single middle school demonstrating the higher achievement that is likely in this scenario.

Dr. Rothstein was interviewed on the AEF YouTube Channel. You can read the complete study here and view the cited figures here.