Past Event
Education Funding Webinar

More than most years in recent memory, 2025 is shaping up to feature many education funding debates in state capitols around the country. In January, CSG East, The Learning Policy Institute, and The Levin Center came together to host a non-partisan primer on how education funding works, broadly speaking, and best practices for understanding the existing system for funding schools in your states and communities.
This webinar was catered to state legislators and staff serving on budget and education committees, or who are new to public service and want to learn more about how states fund their education systems, what has changed in recent years, and what challenges lay ahead. The slides and recording can be found below.
Webinar Recording
Slides

Michael Griffith
Senior Researcher and Policy Analyst, Learning Policy Institute
Michael
Griffith
is
a
Senior
Researcher
and
Policy
Analyst
at
the
Learning
Policy
Institute.
He
is
part
of
LPI’s
Equitable
Resources
and
Access
team,
where
he
focuses
on
school
funding
issues.
Before
joining
the
LPI
team,
Griffith
was
a
school
...
finance
expert,
first
with
the
Education
Commission
of
the
States
and
then
as
an
independent
contractor.
Over
the
past
20
years,
he
has
worked
with
policymakers
in
all
50
states
to
help
them
reshape
and
reform
their
school
funding
systems,
always
to
improve
student
achievement
and
education
equity.
His
research
work
has
focused
on
the
condition
of
state
and
district
budgets,
the
adequacy
and
equity
of
state
finance
formulas,
and
promising
practices
in
funding
programs
for
high-need
students.
Read More

Benjamin Russell Eikey
Manager of State Training and Development, The Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy
Ben
Eikey
is
the
manager
of
state
training
and
development
at
the
Levin
Center
for
Oversight
and
Democracy.
His
primary
responsibilities
include
helping
to
build
the
State
Oversight
Academy
by
developing
quality
programming
for
the
state
legislative
audience
and
the
...
public.
He
does
this
through
state
legislative
oversight
workshops
for
a
national
audience,
short
podcasts
on
a
specific
oversight
topics
called
FAST
Classes,
and
state-specific
content
including
workshops
at
state
capitols
across
the
country.
Ben
helps
equip
legislators
with
the
tools
and
best
practices
needed
for
bipartisan
fact-finding
and
to
empower
legislators
to
see
differences
in
perspective
as
an
advantage
when
seeking
facts
together.
Whether
it
is
how
to
ask
better
questions
in
a
hearing,
how
to
leverage
a
department
budget
to
secure
a
reporting
requirement
for
a
government
program
or
service,
or
how
to
build
an
oversight
plan
when
approaching
a
long-term
investigation,
Ben
is
always
ready
to
assist
legislators
through
the
State
Oversight
Academy
to
help
fulfill
the
legislature’s
role
as
the
“eyes
and
ears”
of
the
people.
Read More

Ian McKnight
State Training and Development Manager, The Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy
Ian
McKnight
is
a
state
training
and
development
manager
at
the
Levin
Center
for
Oversight
and
Democracy.
He
joined
the
Levin
Center
in
July
2023
to
work
with
the
State
Oversight
Academy.
A
good
government
geek
and
legislative
branch
loyalist,
...
Ian
helps
state
legislators,
their
staff,
and
the
public
understand
the
important
role
of
bipartisan,
fact-based
oversight
in
our
system
of
government.
A
native
of
West
Michigan,
Ian
earned
his
B.A.
in
political
science
and
American
studies
from
Kalamazoo
College.
Before
joining
the
Levin
Center,
he
worked
for
a
member
of
the
Michigan
House
of
Representatives
and
conducted
software
implementations
and
training
for
state
legislatures
across
the
country.
Ian
enjoys
state
capitol
tours
and
train
travel.
He
is
a
third-generation
election
worker
and
licensed
tour
guide
in
New
York
City,
where
he
lives.
Read More
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