Policy Report

State Strategies for Investing in Community Schools

A teacher and students looking at a plant outdoors.
Anna Maier and Adrian Rivera-Rodriguez
April 2023 | Learning Policy Institute
A teacher and students looking at a plant outdoors.

This report from the Learning Policy Institute highlights three potential approaches to state support for community schools: (1) ongoing support through school funding formulas, (2) competitive grant funding, and (3) capacity-building supports (such as certification processes). Based on a review of state American Rescue Plan Act plans, as well as state legislative and state education agency websites and other online resources, this report describes community school initiatives in eight states that have invested in community schools as a strategy to address long-standing social inequities that have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.