An Old Idea for a New Era? How Block Grants Can Achieve State Goals and Improve Student Outcomes 

March 21, 2025

By Jason Willis

The new administration has signaled that it may use block grants to direct federal funding, including public education funding, to state and local agencies, giving state education leaders the opportunity to align those funds to their goals. Generally, block grants give state leaders the authority and ability to help local education leaders stay focused on the business of educating students, regardless of what happens in Washington.

As with any fiscal tool, block grants have both advantages and limitations. Generally, they provide recipients more flexibility in the use of funds compared with other commonly used fiscal tools. Ideally, this flexibility results in better outcomes for students and more efficiency because the use of funds is closer in proximity to the beneficiaries—students, in this case. But that flexibility and lack of accountability can also mean less transparency for the general public about the impact and effectiveness of these programs. A primary driver for accountability requirements is offering insight into how public funds are used to protect and support the most vulnerable student populations.

The following recommendations can help state leaders use block grants to consistently and reliably serve students and improve outcomes.

1. Set Clear Goals and Outcomes That Lead to Meaningful Allocation

Having clear and coherent goals and outcomes enables local school systems to understand how to use funds to execute those goals. States should leverage their existing goals and outcomes to inform the use of block grants and align their funding formulas’ investments in high-need populations to block grant allocations.

2. Reimagine Accountability Through Rapid Innovation and Engineered Quality Improvement

Block grants present an opportunity to draw from the best state accountability programs and link spending to meaningful, stated outcomes. Approaching accountability in a new way can help states support local systems. For instance, states can work to collect and use data in timely ways, relevant to local educators’ daily practice. They can also promote rapid improvement through vehicles such as incubators and engineer improvement through rapid-cycle iterative change.

3. Communicate Clearly With the Public About Block Grant Funds’ Value and Impact

Block grants typically don’t require program evaluations or reporting on outcomes and fund use, so most members of the public don’t know how the funds are used. This deficit could be addressed by designing and using data-collection tools that gather information about the state’s intent in using a block grant. States should also communicate with the public about how they are using block grant funds to advance state goals.

4. Build Systems for Interagency Collaboration

Most states have numerous agencies with shared geographic jurisdictions that work to promote and support the well-being of children and youth. Often, they serve overlapping populations, such as low-income children in the foster system. Block grant funds can be used to build a cross-agency infrastructure with shared goals, actions, and funding, bringing together decision-makers from public and nonprofit organizations to develop shared actions and braid funding streams.

For more information about block grants, read An Old Idea for a New Age? Aligning Block Grants to Achieve State Goals and Improved Outcomes for Students, which served as the basis for this article.

Jason Willis is a Senior Policy Advisor with WestEd’s Strategic Resource Allocation and Systems Planning team. Willis is a recognized national expert in American public finance and policy issues, with a focus on school funding formulas; system support and accountability levers; and integrated care change strategies in education, health, and social services.