Public school funding in the United States
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Public education in the United States of America provides basic education from kindergarten until the twelfth grade. This is provided free of charge for the students and parents, but is paid for by taxes on property owners as well as general taxes collected by the federal government. This education is mandated by the states. With the completion of this basic schooling, one obtains a high school diploma or General Education Development (GED) as certification of basic skills.
In the United States, the largest source of funding for elementary and secondary education comes from state government aid, followed by local contributions (primarily property taxes).
According to a review of the economics literature by Kirabo Jackson, there is strong evidence of "a causal relationship between increased school spending and student outcomes. All but one of the several multi-state studies find a strong link between spending and outcomes – indicating that money matters on average... the robustness of the patterns across a variety of settings is compelling evidence of a real positive causal relationship between increased school spending and student outcomes on average." Some school investments yield notable improvements in student achievement outcome, such as investments into HVAC systems, safety and health improvements, STEM equipment, infrastructure, and classroom space.