Despite India’s progress in the area of elementary education since the 1950s, it still accounts for one-third of the world’s illiterates and one-fifth of the world’s out-of-school children. This book focuses on key aspects of financing elementary education in eight states across India, analyzing public expenditure trends, drawing from international experiences, assessing the performance of privately financed education vis-a-vis public provision, analyzing household expenditure patterns, identifying resource needs and gaps, and setting an agenda for reform towards universalization of elementary education.