Budget Trends Report for U.S. School Districts

Every month, Starbridge processes millions of public documents—board meeting minutes, strategic plans, RFPs, and contracts—to help businesses identify their best-fit public sector customers.

Executive summary

We ranked which school districts have the budget for new products and services this year. We analyzed thousands of public documents including:

• Year-over-year budget trends
• Funding cuts and new funding sources
• State and federal education funding
• Grants and special program allocations
• Leadership changes and board decisions
• Hiring expansions, freezes, and staffing shifts
• School board meeting materials and transcripts, and more

The Starbridge propensity score adds context to every district — helping you understand who is likely to spend and why.

Top trends

• 60 school districts are aggressively spending in 2026.
• 24.8% of school districts are open to spend this year.
• Texas has the highest concentration of school districts willing to spend.

What you'll learn

• Which school districts show the strongest budget increases, and why
• Where school district budgets are shrinking, and how that affects purchasing behavior
• Where vendors should prioritize, or deprioritize outreach based on school district budget momentum