US K-12 School Finance Request for ProposalsOpens May 19 2021 12:01 PM (PDT)Deadline Jun 10 2021 08:59 PM (PDT)$1.00 to $115,000.00Description
Policymakers need evidence and analysis to improve school funding systems, but relevant research is rarely available in the right format to inform decision-making. As a result, many education funding discussions are often dominated by ideology and precedence rather than rigorous research.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation seeks to increase the use of research in education policymaking in the United States by empowering researchers to publish timely, rigorous analyses in a format that is useful and engaging for state policymakers and advocates. Our goal is to bring more data-driven voices into the school funding conversation and to broaden and diversify the pool of scholars that do this kind of work.
As such, we are seeking proposals from education policy researchers and analysts to complete short, relevant analyses of education funding policy issues.
Audience. This opportunity is open to all policy researchers, analysts and organizations with an interest in education and the ability to analyze topics of interest in school funding.
Types of analyses. A broad range of potential analyses would be suitable for this opportunity. Examples include descriptive analyses documenting a policy issue in a systematic way and analyses of the likely impacts of isolated state or local policies on school funding and student and community outcomes.
All topics, spanning K–12 education funding in the United States, are eligible. We are especially interested in analyses focused on racial equity and policies of public interest, including issues related to revenue and state funding for schools. Some examples include:
- Funding models: Are some funding models more advantageous in terms of ensuring equity and smoothing out wealth disparities among school districts?
- State influence: Is there a discernable relationship between the structure of state funding models and district spending behavior? Has district spending behavior changed with large-scale funding formula overhauls?
- Tax effort: What is the current commitment of education spending within state budgets as a proportion of a state’s wealth? What policy implications can be derived from contrasting wealth and tax effort across states?
- Revenue volatility: School districts depend on several disparate taxes, some more volatile than others. Is there a longitudinal effect on equity in funding that can be identified by isolating revenue types?
- State vs. local funding: Are there determined trends in school funding that can be linked to the state’s dependence on local revenues for funding? What are the implications for student, community, political and/or civic outcomes?
Selected Work Products. Authors will own their work, while providing a license to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to publish and disseminate the work. Authors will be encouraged to further develop their analyses for publication in other outlets (e.g., academic journals).
Proposal Process. Proposals should be no more than 750 words and should include a description of the topic, an explanation of why it’s important, the dataset(s) that will be used, the analyses that will be conducted, and the implications for education funding policy.
Proposals can be submitted through an application portal located at
https://submit.gatesfoundation.org/prog/school_finance_rfp1
Proposals will be reviewed on a rolling basis, with a final deadline of June 10, 2021. Review criteria include the proposal’s originality, feasibility, and relevance. Selected authors can expect a response to their proposal by July 1, 2021.
Authors are welcome to submit multiple proposals.
Project Budget. Applications should include a short line-item budget for this work. Funding for each project is capped at $115,000, which includes a maximum indirect cost rate of 15%.
Acceptance Process. Once proposals are accepted, applicants will complete required foundation proposal documents, which include a detailed scope of work and budget. Payments will be made in two phases – half of the project budget will be advanced, and half paid upon completion of work.
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