Education

State K-12 school funding

63 public statements from 2026 candidates

§1The range of views

Why this matters: State money helps pay for teachers, classrooms and buses, so this affects class sizes, teacher pay and local property taxes.

Drafted by AI, then checked for neutral wording in a separate AI review. It describes the question and the main positions, not any candidate's view. Facts link to their sources.

How much a state spends on public elementary, middle and high schools.

  1. Increase state funding for public schools
  2. Hold funding near current levels
  3. Reduce state school funding or slow its growth

These options describe policies, not people. The order is not a ranking.

§2What candidates have said

Why this matters: Statements candidates made publicly, summarized in plain words with a link to where they said it. Candidates who haven't spoken publicly on this issue aren't listed.

Drafted by AI from the public sources cited. Each sentence links to its source.

Increase state funding for public schools (23)

  • David Jolly FL Governor
    His campaign website says Florida should sharply increase investment in public schools, including higher teacher pay.1
  • Terri Pickens ID Governor
    Her campaign website says she supports better funding for Idaho schools, including higher teacher salaries, rural districts, pre-K and full-day kindergarten.2
  • Brad Little ID Governor
    His campaign website lists teacher pay increases, a five-fold increase in literacy funding and investments in school facilities among his accomplishments.3
  • Juliana Stratton IL Senate
    Her campaign website says that in Illinois she helped lead efforts to increase funding for public schools and address teacher shortages.4,5
  • Priscilla Gonzalez LA-3
    Her campaign website's page on Louisiana Senate Bill 26 describes it as a bill to secure increased funding for public schools, says she will work to ensure bills like it are supported and passed, and says she will advocate competitive salaries and benefits for teachers.6
  • Maura Healey MA Governor
    Her campaign website says she doubled state funding for schools and made school meals free.7
  • Wes Moore MD Governor
    His campaign website says he has increased state education funding every year he has been in office, with more than $10 billion for schools in this year's budget, and raised teacher starting salaries to $60,000.8
  • April McClain Delaney MD-6
    Her campaign website says she supports the Blueprint for Maryland's Future, which it says increases funding for public schools and expands access to pre-K, and that she will work with state leaders to ensure it is fully funded.9
  • Paul R. LePage ME-2
    His campaign website lists among his accomplishments as governor raising K-12 education spending and keeping tuition flat in Maine's higher education system.10
  • Sean McCann MI-4
    His campaign website says he strongly supports funding public schools, and lists among his accomplishments in the Michigan Legislature helping raise funding so schools could hire more teachers, social workers and therapists.11
  • Jocelyn Benson MI Governor
    Her education plan says Michigan has underfunded its public schools for nearly three decades and that she would fund schools based on student needs and fix special education funding.12
  • Josh Smead MO-6
    His campaign website lists increasing federal and state funding to public schools.13
  • Brett Lindstrom NE Governor
    His campaign's policy framework says the state should move toward paying about half of core K-12 education costs as its finances allow.14
  • Aaron D. Ford NV Governor
    His campaign website says he supports raising Nevada's per-pupil education funding to meet or exceed the national average.15
  • Joseph Lombardo NV Governor
    His campaign website says he would raise per-pupil school funding while raising expectations for results.16
  • Amy Acton OH Governor
    Her campaign website says she would restore public school funding to a constitutional level by fully carrying out the bipartisan Fair School Funding Plan.17,18
  • Cyndi Munson OK Governor
    Her campaign website says she would work to fully fund public schools, which it says are billions of dollars below the regional average, and give teachers and support staff a raise competitive with nearby states.19
  • Walid Hakim SC Governor
    His platform says South Carolina must invest deeply in its schools instead of cutting funding, and proposes free breakfast and lunch for all students and year-round schools.20
  • Jerri Green TN Governor
    Her platform calls for fully funding K-12 public education, raising teacher pay and adding school counselors, nurses and support staff.21
  • Lauren Pinkston TN Governor
    Her campaign website says Tennessee ranks last in per-pupil funding and that she would invest in public schools and better fund teacher and paraprofessional salaries.22
  • Robert C. Vick TN Governor
    His campaign website says the state must fully fund public classrooms and pay teachers a competitive wage.23
  • Tom Tiffany WI Governor
    His campaign website says he supports more funding for Wisconsin schools, tied to accountability for results.24
  • David Crowley WI Governor
    His campaign website says he would make new investments in public schools, close the gap in state reimbursement for special education and provide universal early childhood education.25

Reduce state school funding or slow its growth (2)

  • Charles Burkett FL Governor
    His campaign website says school spending should be cut by 5% to 10%, with the savings going to property owners.26
  • Pro-Life ID Governor
    His campaign website says state governments should not sponsor public education and calls for reduced education spending.27,28

Statements that don't match one option (38)

  • Jonathan S. "JKT" Kreiss-Tomkins AK Governor
    His campaign website says he would fully fund public schools, pass a constitutional amendment to set education funding in advance, pay teachers fairly and create a defined-benefit retirement system for teachers.29
  • Bernadette M. Wilson AK Governor
    Her campaign website says legislators' support for increasing the Base Student Allocation is arbitrary and not tied to measurable results, and calls for funding levels and programs that produce results.30
  • Fred Love AR Governor
    His campaign website says he would invest in literacy and early education, support teachers with fair pay and resources, expand mental health support in schools and reject policies that divert funding away from public classrooms.31
  • Colt Shelby AR Governor
    His campaign website says the state should fully fund existing public schools and prioritize investment in teacher pay, school facilities and rural district funding formulas.32
  • Brittany Pettersen CO-7
    Her campaign website says that as chair of the Colorado House Education Committee she helped build the coalition to raise teacher pay, modernize school buildings and get funding for full-day kindergarten.33
  • Ned Lamont CT Governor
    His campaign website says he would increase state support for special education.34
  • Mike Sell FL-4
    His campaign's platform calls for funding public education fully and fairly and closing Florida's per-student funding gap.35
  • Frank J. Russo FL Governor
    His campaign website says he wants to raise Florida's average teacher salary to at least $75,000, using state reserves as a bridge rather than new taxes at first, and to move money from administration to classrooms.36,37,38
  • Jeffrey Peter "Dr. Jeff" Datto FL Governor
    His campaign website says he would prioritize investment in traditional public schools, including teacher pay and smaller classes where possible, and would abolish charter schools by bringing them into the state public school system.39,40
  • Amanda Hollowell GA-1
    Her campaign website lists among her results at the Georgia Budget & Policy Institute helping drive the effort to secure full funding of Quality Basic Education for a second consecutive year.41
  • Nikema Williams GA-5
    An earlier issues page still on her campaign website says that in the Georgia State Senate she voted against every effort to take money from public schools.42
  • Rick Jackson GA Governor
    His campaign website says he would raise teacher pay.43
  • Keisha Lance Bottoms GA Governor
    Her campaign website says she would fully fund Georgia's schools and update the state's education funding formula to reflect students' current needs.44
  • Jim Risch ID Senate
    His campaign website says that as governor he set aside $100 million for schools.45
  • John R. Stegner ID Governor
    His campaign website says the state has an obligation to properly fund public schools and that teachers deserve appropriate pay.46,47
  • JB Pritzker IL Governor
    His campaign website lists investing in K-12 schools and quadrupling the minimum salary for teachers among his accomplishments.48
  • Darren Bailey IL Governor
    His campaign website says he would fight to make sure schools are fully funded and give parents more power to choose for their children.49
  • Collin Corbett IL Governor
    His campaign website says that as money is freed up in the state budget, he would fully fund schools through the state's Evidence-Based Funding formula.50
  • Cindy Holscher KS Governor
    Her campaign website says she is committed to fully funding public schools and meeting the state's special education funding commitments, and would make school lunch free for every student.51
  • Dan Cox MD Governor
    His campaign website says his administration would make sure schools are fully funded and that the money goes to classrooms.52
  • Andy Ellis MD Governor
    His campaign website says he supports full funding of the Blueprint for Maryland's Future school plan, paid for through progressive taxes.53
  • Rick Bennett ME Governor
    His campaign website says he would keep the state's legal requirement to pay at least 55% of the cost of public education and fully fund revenue sharing with towns.54
  • Amy Klobuchar MN Governor
    Her campaign website says she would continue to strongly fund schools and use evidence-based reading and math curricula and tutoring to raise student achievement.55
  • Don Davis NC-1
    His campaign website's About page lists funding rural schools among the aims of the 90 bills it says he passed in the North Carolina Senate.56
  • Jim Pillen NE Governor
    His Pillen Playbook 2.0 says he would reform K-12 funding to mirror the state's approach to community colleges and give public schools the resources they need.57
  • Lynne Walz NE Governor
    Her campaign website says the share of state income taxes going to schools has fallen sharply and that she would find a consistent way to fund schools while lowering property taxes and keeping local control.58
  • Kelly Ayotte NH Governor
    Her campaign website says she is investing more money per student than ever before and providing historic support for special education.59
  • Stephen Villee NH Governor
    His campaign website says that in the long term he would amend the state constitution so that funding public education is at the Legislature's discretion rather than a duty, while keeping education funding in place for current residents who are not libertarians.60
  • Greggory D Hull NM Governor
    His campaign website says he would tie a portion of school funding to measurable gains in reading, math and graduation rates.61
  • Deb Haaland NM Governor
    Her education plan calls for more special education teachers and school support staff, minimum pay for education workers that rises with inflation, and more funding for before- and after-school programs.62
  • Danielle Ford NV Governor
    Her campaign website says school funding should reflect the real cost of serving students, including special education and English learners.63
  • Josh Shapiro PA Governor
    His campaign website says that under his leadership Pennsylvania has invested more in public education than ever before, and that students now get free school breakfast and more mental health counselors.64
  • Aaron Christopher Guckian RI Governor
    His campaign website says he would prioritize investments in public schools, support for teachers and career pathways such as vocational and technical training.65
  • Jermaine Johnson SC Governor
    His campaign website says he would invest in public education and order a full audit of the public school system to improve access and quality.66
  • Alan Wilson SC Governor
    His campaign website says he would fully fund public schools.67
  • Dan Ahlers SD Governor
    His campaign website says he would invest heavily in public education, recruit and keep teachers, strengthen rural schools and invest in school buildings.68
  • Greg Abbott TX Governor
    His campaign website says money Texas has put into public schools should go mainly to classrooms rather than administration, and it proposes dedicating 70% of school funding to classrooms and auditing school districts for waste.69
  • Gina Hinojosa TX Governor
    Her campaign website says she would audit the state's education vendor contracts, end improper ones and use the money to make Texas teachers among the highest paid in the nation.70