Giving Compass' Take:

· Despite having the highest per-student funding rate, EdSource reports on a new study suggesting that New York schools should spend more on students. This study, consisting of over 600 districts around the state, concluded that increased spending on students leads to higher scores on state tests.

· What other factors can influence the success of students and test scores? Would increased spending reduce every disparity in student achievement?

· Here's a state-by-state guide to education funding and its results.

Education advocates have insisted the state has skimped on funding its schools. But New York State already has the highest per-student funding rate of any in the country — could moving that number up make a difference?

The answer is yes, according to a new study of over 600 districts across the state — the first of its kind to look at the recent effects of increased school spending in New York. The researchers found that increased per-student spending led to higher math and reading scores on state tests.

The findings add new evidence to a heated debate that has raged for decades about whether the state’s schools are adequately funded, an issue that actress Cynthia Nixon has made a pillar of her underdog campaign against Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Set to be published in the peer-reviewed Economics of Education Review, the study takes advantage of a provision in the state’s funding formula known as “Save Harmless” that allows districts to maintain their funding even if they lose students. Since many districts across the state have suffered enrollment declines, they have boosted the amount of money they spend per student. (New York City was excluded from the study because of its unusually large size and technical issues matching its data with other districts.)

Read the full article about New York schools by Alex Zimmerman at Chalkbeat.