Student Resources

            So-called Blaine Amendments are likely to be the next big battleground over school funding. About 36 state constitutions do not permit public money to pay for private religious schooling.  This brief article explains why school choice voucher advocates are challenging “no funding” amendments in state courts by demonizing them, playing the “Blaine (blame) game.”

            After reading the article, consider:

1. Explain who James Blaine was and tell his connection to the “no funding” issue.
2. Describe the history of “no funding” amendments in state constitutions.
3. Explain why voucher advocates choose to refer to all “no funding” amendments as Blaine Amendments.
4. In your view, explain why efforts in states to remove “no funding” amendments have largely failed. 

            A national crisis can mean large financial resources for public education. Jennifer L. Jolly, an education professor at Louisiana State University, recounts how the Soviet Union’s launch of Sputnik into space (1957) propelled the U.S. Congress to invest $1 billion a year over 4 years in public education reform so as to compete with the Soviet school system that focused ion preparing young scientists. Today, however, other interests are directing education funding elsewhere.

After reading the article, consider:

1. Identify the academic courses, programs, and personnel that gained the most attention and funding from NDEA and explain the Congress’s rationale for doing so.
2. Describe the nature of the educational reforms in science and math curricula and instruction to result from NDEA monies.
3. Explain the implications of NDEA for guidance and counseling personnel and practice.
4. Explain the implications of NDEA for gifted students, our understanding of intelligence, and their teachers.
5. Discuss how the contemporary economy and political environment is impacting STEM and gifted programs today.

            In 1975, Congress promised to cover 40% of the average per pupil cost to educate a child with disabilities and spent billions of dollars to make this a reality. It later amended the law to say it would pay a “maximum” of 40% of per-pupil costs. Today, the federal government pays less than half (about 18%) of what it originally promised. Yet states are required to provide free and appropriate public education [FAPE] for all eligible students regardless of the level of federal funding. This report examines the past-to-current funding levels for IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) and analyzes the impact that the lack of full funding has had on states in meeting their obligations to provide FAPE to students with disabilities.  It also provides recommendations for future funding.

            After reading this report, consider:

1. Describe how federal funding for special education recognized the link between poverty and children needing special education services.
2. Summarize the trends 1988-2017 in federal special education spending and student enrollment in special education, children ages 3 – 21, preschool, and infants and families.
3. Summarize the trends in funding and how school districts are classifying students with special needs.
4. Discuss why it is essential to study special education expenditures and generate reliable state-level and national data.
5. Describe the impact on school districts, students, and families of the lack of federal funding for special education.
6. If you could make one recommendation to improve this funding situation, what would it be?

            Researchers have long recognized the relationship between quality education reform and the structure of a state’ school funding system. Nonetheless, many policy makers still see their state’s school funding formula as a barrier to change rather than as a tool for reform.  When policy makers (and educational leaders) do not understand the basics of their state’s funding system, they have difficulty deciding what changes are needed and to encourage reform. This brief article helps makes sense of these complex systems.

            After reading this article, consider:

1. Briefly explain how and why state funding formulas to support public education stopped being simple.
2. If you were the decision maker for which way of “counting the kids” is the most efficient, easiest, and with best outcome for localities, explain which method you would choose and why.
3. Explain why revising a state’s school funding formula is so difficult.

            Improved access to school resources can significantly improve life outcomes, especially for low-income children. Education finance reforms from 1971 through 2011 – mostly court-mandated – caused the most dramatic changes in the structure of K-12 education spending in U.S. history. An exhaustive and sophisticated analysis of these reforms on adult outcomes finds a strong positive relationship between school spending and the adult outcomes of affected students.  For example, funding high-poverty schools at levels 20% higher than they were over the period studies would have improved the graduation rate by 23%, enough to erase the high-school completion gap between the poor and non-poor.  Researchers conclude that the relationship was causal, not merely correlational. [For the purpose of this activity, focus on the study’s objectives and findings, discussion, and conclusion; studying the methodology is optional]

            After reading this study, consider:

1. Explain how the shift from heavy reliance on financing schools through local property taxes to financing schools as the result of court-ordered equate/adequacy reform led to a substantial change in the structure of public school finance.
2. Discuss the ways in which increased funding for school quality – including reduced student-teacher ratios, increased teacher salaries, increased instructional time, and longer school years – can impact adult outcomes of affected students.
3. In your view, explain why court-mandated education finance reforms would lead to spending money on “more productive” school inputs than simply increasing funding by other means.

The U.S. Constitution does not mention education, but the 10th Amendment states that “the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution…are reserved to the States…” As a result, the U.S. Department of Education does not directly oversee the nation’s 100,000 public schools.  By contrast, the 14th Amendment requires all states to provide “any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” This would seem to give the federal government the right to intervene in certain disputes that denied students equal protection.  Nonetheless, the federal government uses a complex system, of funding, policy directives and the “bully pulpit” to shape what, how and where students learn.  This article recounts the history of the (limited) federal role in public education.

            After reading the article, consider:

1. Explain how the 10th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution would seem to put two basic tenets of our government into conflict.
2. Describe how the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (1965) provided “incentives with caveats” for states to allow the federal government to influence the state’s education policies and practices.
3. Using examples, summarize how the federal role in education waxed and waned according to the political climate of the times.
4. Explain how the three branches of the federal government each have a role in influencing state education policy and practice.

As a whole, U.S. students are not achieving as highly as some of their international peers.  This was true in 2013 (when this article was written) and is still true. Why? In part, it has to do with how each country views education.  Every country that outperforms the U.S. has a constitutional or statutory commitment to this right. Did the U.S. Constitution’s framers get this wrong?

After reading the article, consider:

1. What are our competitor nations doing to maintain high educational standards and practices – a “culture of education” – that the U.S. is not doing?
2. Explain the consequences to education, students, and the nation by not having laws – or even become signatories to international agreements – affirming education as a fundamental right of citizens, at least until the age of adulthood.
3. Given our political and judicial history, express the arguments supporting the view  that the U.S. has – or does not have – a national culture that supports education as a national value.
4. Express your views on whether the U.S. should have a constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to education as a fundamental value.

            In a landmark 1968 class action, Mexican American parents in Texas sued the Texas system of financing public education on behalf of schoolchildren throughout the state who were members of minority groups or were poor and resided in districts having a low property tax base. The State court ruled the Texas school finance system unconstitutional. The State appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court that ruled 5-to-4 that the U.S. Constitution gave “no fundamental right to education” [schools had no right to equal funding] and reversed the State court’s decision. Read the San Antonio ruling, argued October 12, 1972 and decided March 21, 1973.  [Read Sections 1 – 39]

After reading the facts and the decision, consider:

1. Describe the demographic, commercial, and resource differences between the Edgewood Independent School District’s and the Alamo Heights Independent School District at the time of the suit.
2. Summarize the U.S. Supreme Court’s reasoning for its ruling.
3. Express the extent to which you agree or disagree with the Court’s statement (Section 37): “…where only relative differences in spending levels are involved and where…no change fairly could be made that the system, fails to provide each child with an opportunity to acquire the basic minimal skills necessary for the enjoyment of the rights of speech and of full participation in the political process” the Court will not interfere into otherwise legitimate state activities. 
4. Explain your view on whether or not education is a “fundamental right” deserving Constitutional protections.

            In the author’s view, the San Antonio v. Rodriguez decision (1973), in which the Supreme Court held that there is no constitutional right to an equal education, was a key event that contributed to both educational inequality and today’s income inequality. He asks, “Does the Supreme Court really believe in “Equal Justice Under Law”?  He argues that the problem is inequality of resources. Does he make his case?

            After reading this article, consider:

1. Discuss the tensions between a “minimal ‘adequate’ education,” local control, and inequality of educational opportunity.
2. Explain the view that the current education finance system “exacerbates” inequality by “reinforcing the advantages of wealth and perpetuates the disadvantages of poverty from one generation to the next…defeating the notion that in America every person has a fair chance to succeed.”
3. In your view, how could a Supreme Court that unanimously decided Brown v. Board of Education, writing that “education is perhaps the most important function of state and local government...the very foundation of good citizenship.…[and] where the state has undertaken to provide [an education], it must be made available to all on equal terms” make the Rodriguez decision that education was “not a fundamental right”?
4. In Rodriguez, Justice Thurgood Marshall dissented, arguing that the decision was a “retreat from our historic commitment to equality of educational; opportunity” and was too important an issue to leave to the “political” process. Explain the extent to which you agree or disagree.

            If education is a public good and paying for it is a pubic obligation, why does Rondout District 72 have so much money and the Chicago Ridge School District have so little? They are less than one hour apart but the communities and the disparity in resources spent on its public schools seems worlds apart: $9,794 per student versus $28,639 per student.  This disparity is not unique to Illinois.

            After reading the article, consider:

1. Describe the demographic and economic differences between the two school communities.
2. Explain how this resource disparity is affecting the academic achievement gap between the wealthiest and poorest students.
3. Explain some of the consequences of relying on local property taxes to fund public schools, even with states providing extra funding for its low-income students to help level the playing field.
4. Summarize the reasons underlying the plethora of school-funding lawsuits in nearly even state since the early 1970s.

            Michael Rebell, Professor of Law & Education Practice and Executive Director of Teachers College Center for Educational Equity (CEE) and author of Flunking Democracy (2018) is an advocate for school finance reform. He and his students are filing a complaint in a federal district court arguing that local schools are not adequately preparing young people as citizens.  They hope the case reaches the Supreme Court, so they might establish a Constitutional right to a quality education.

            After reading the article, consider:

1. Explain the political and judicial reasons influencing the Supreme Court’s decision on Rodriguez that left an opening for a future case that sought to link school funding to the exercize of citizenship.
2. Describe Michael Rebell as a scholar/advocate and explain his successful “educational adequacy” and “people buy-in” approach to school finance litigation.
3. Summarize Rebell’s reasoning for bringing this case before the conservative John Roberts’ Supreme Court.
4. Express the extent to which you agree or disagree with Rebell’s view that the civic preparation formerly taught in schools has been severely reduced because of political factors and a focus on other priorities.
5. Discuss what practical outcomes – in terms of public policy, public sentiment, and adequate funding – Rebell wants from a favorable Supreme Court decision about education as a fundamental right.
6. Describe your view of what “productive civic participation” should look like in schools.

            Theodore Schultz, an empirical economist, grew up on a South Dakota farm. After World War II, while interviewing a poor farm couple, he noticed their contentment. He asked why they were so happy even though poor, and they answered that they were not poor. They had used their farm to send four children college, and these children would be productive because of their education. This led Schultz to the idea of human capital – capital produced by investing in individuals’ knowledge, which he discussed in this article.  In 1979, Theodore W. Schultz won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for this concept.

After reading his seminal 1961 article, consider:

1. Explain why Schultz’s view of investing in human resources was so revolutionary at the time
2. In Schultz’ view, describe how laborers become capitalists and give examples.
3. Describe the role of human capital in a highly technical, information-intensive world.
4. Discuss what Schultz sees as the mistakes that developing economies make by only investing capital in forming brick and mortar structures, buying equipment, and building up inventories but not in people.
5. Describe the five major categories that can improve human capabilities. Identify which your current employer uses to invest in your health, professional growth, and productivity.

            “…[U]ltimately, it is the degree to which schooling fosters cognitive skills and facilitates the acquisition of professional skills that matters for development.”  Using data on economic growth and student cognitive skills, economists Eric Hanushek and Ludger Woessmann show that the quality of education, rather than simply access to education, is what impacts a nation’s economic growth.  Their research finds that a nation’s productivity is an outcome of its schooling’s quality (not simply access to education) and its students’ learning achievements.

            After reading [pages 1 – 11, 14-16] of the report, consider:

1. Explain what the authors mean when they write, “Schooling has not delivered fully on its promise as the driver of economic success,” and identify what they suggest as remedies.
2. Discuss the authors’ view that “the quality of education, measured by the knowledge that students gain as noted in tests of cognitive skills, is substantially more important for economic growth than the mere quantity of education.”  Discuss the implications for American education, especially in low-income communities.
3. Explain which is better for a nation’s economy: education for all, education for “rocket scientists” (the very top student achievers) – or both.  What policy suggestions would you make from this conclusion?
4. Describe the role of resources and teachers as they impact student learning and achievement.

            Even into their eighties, most people with at least a college education have good cognition. A University of Southern California study finds that people age 65 and over in the United States with more education have more years of cognitively healthy life, lower prevalence of dementia, and fewer years with dementia.  The more the education, the more years the persons had of good cognition and the fewer years spent with dementia. By comparison, those with less education area more likely to develop dementia and live with it longer.  What is the individual and societal cost of having low educational attainment?

            After reading the article, consider:

1. Describe the relationship that the study finds between life expectancy, education, and good cognition. Speculate why this might be the case.
2. Discuss the implications for individuals and their families of elderly parents/relatives having good or poor cognitive health.
3. In your view, how does having a higher educational status impact both cognitive function and having a longer life?

            Just as capital means a bank account or 100 shares of Apple, expenditures on schooling (education and training) are investments in human capital – knowledge, skills, values, and habits. Education has both monetary and non-monetary benefits. No longer do we speak of college graduates as “over-educated.” Rather, now we express concern about whether the U.S. provides adequate quality and quantity of education and other training.

            After reading the article, consider:

1. Explain why acceptance of the human capital concept has been widespread across cultures and economic systems.
2. Describe how the benefits and costs from completing a college education have risen over time and expanded women’s career options in the United States and internationally.
3. Discuss the relative benefits and limitations of “credentialing” vs. work experiences/on-the-job training/internships for prospective employees.
4. Describe how the employer-employee relationship has changed since Becker wrote this chapter in 1994.
5. Give examples of how families can create human capital in their children.
6. Explain how the increase in technology has increased the value of education and on-the-job training.

Ample research tells us that the best way to increase student achievement is to have an effective teacher in every classroom and an effective leader in every school. Attracting and retaining highly skilled teachers and leaders to bridge the gap between underperforming American schools and our international competitors is a human capital challenge.  This article provides guidance to state and districts as they develop policies and strategies to stock their human capital pipeline.

After reading this article, consider:

1. Discuss several concerns, policy options, and possible recommendations to the challenge of inadequate teacher or school leadership preparation.  Identify the ones that you believe most impact you in your own professional school leadership program and explain why.
2. Discuss several concerns, policy options, and possible recommendations to the challenge of retaining effective teachers and school leaders.  Identify the ones that you believe most impact you in your own professional school leadership program and explain why.
3. Describe the recommendations that you think will work best for you as a future administrator.

            Today, we all believe that investments un people through education, training, and health increase an individual’s productivity – their human capital – “the skills the labor force possesses and is regarded as a resource asset.” This was not always popular wisdom, however. Thinking of “human capital” used to be equated with slavery rather than with freedom, property, and marketable assets.  This article reviews the origins and development of the human capital concept and the role of education and training in producing it.

            After reading pages 1 – 17 in this article, consider:

1. Explain why the human capital concept has greatly expanded over time, especially in the twentieth century.
2. Discusses the meaning of the term, “knowledge economy.”
3. Describe the Galor and Weil (2000) model of human capital.
4. Identify several enabling institutions that help foster human capital formation. Explain how they do so.  Discuss the extent to which these institutions are present and functioning well in the United States.
5. Identify the factors and policies in twentieth century America that enabled it to become the “human capital century.”
6. Summarize the state’s reasons in in subsidize education for its children.

            Money affects educational outcomes. So why has public investment in K-12 schools – an essential investment if individuals, communities, and the U.S. economy are to thrive –sharply declined since 2007? Why have the states with the deepest school funding cuts also  also cut income tax rates, reducing their main revenue source for supporting public schools? Although school funding has improved in most states since 2015, 29 states were still providing less total school funding per student in 2017 than they were in 2008.  What does this mean for our nation’s future?

            After reading this article, consider:

1. Of the factors identified for why states have cut funding so deeply, which do you believe are the most relevant to school funding in your state? 
2. In your view, explain why do so many state governors and legislatures (and the voters that support them) believe that cutting funding for public schools – and cutting the taxes that back them – is a good option to address budget shortfalls.
3. Identify where your own state falls in funding for schools relative to its 2008 levels. Describe how this has impacted teaching and learning in your own work setting.
4. Explain how shortchanging school funding has impacted education reforms widely acknowledged to increase student achievement.
5. Identify and discuss the equity issues in this school finance situation.

            California was the first state to enact comprehensive school finance reform, but were voters “penny wise but pound foolish”? In the 1970s, California’s public schools had an excellent reputation. That is not true today. Rather, many believe that California’s schools have slipped in quality over the years and are no longer performing as well as they once did or as well as schools in other states.  Although written in 2005, the funding and educational conditions in California are only marginally better today.

            After reading the report, consider:

1. Describe the ways in which California is demographically different than other states.  Identify the implications for public schooling that these demographics might bring (related to funding needs).
2. Explain how California’s schools – teacher salaries’ purchasing power, pupil-teacher ratios, teachers’ qualifications, school facilities, students’ academic achievement, and other variables – and their funding have changed between 1980 and 2005 as compared with similar states.
3. Discuss the equity issues involved in California’s school funding practices.

            Over 40 years ago, California voters passed what is arguably the best-known property tax law in the United States. Proposition 13 (Prop 13) limited commercial and residential property taxes to

one percent of a property’s value at the time of purchase and capped any increases to a maximum of two percent a year, regardless of market value. Any property tax increase would require a two-thirds or higher vote by affected property owners.  A taxpayer’s dream come true?  Not if tax fairness was the goal.

            After reading this article, consider:

1. Describe Prop 13’s intended – and unintended – consequences.
2. Explain how Prop 13 substituted tax stability for tax fairness.
3. Discuss which group is harmed the most by the Prop 13 rules – educators and students, older home owners, newer homeowners, or local government – and explain why.

            School funding is controversial. Nearly half of all property tax revenues pay for public elementary and secondary education, and almost every state has faced school funding litigation over the past 50 years. Challenging school funding myths and using case studies, this report presents an overview of the critical concerns and the related policy issues.

            After reading this report, consider:

1. Chapter 1: Identify three myths about property taxes and school funding that most persuade you to think differently about using property taxes to fund public schools. Explain why.
2. Chapter 1: Describe the focus of “old” as compared with “modern” education finance issues (pages 8 – 12, including Table 2).
3. Chapter 2:  Identify and discuss the role of property taxes, funding equity, and student achievement in three (of the seven) school funding litigation case studies presented. Discuss the insights this comparison reveals.
4. Chapter 3: Discuss the three property tax myths that you that you view differently after reading tis section – and explain why.
5. Chapter 3: Explain the advantages and disadvantages of using property taxes to fund schools.
6. Chapter 4: Summarize the two myths about school funding litigation.
7. Chapter 5. Summarize the two myths regarding state education aid
8. Chapter 6: Discuss the two policy recommendations. Investigate whether our current state uses either of these policies to make school funding fairer and more equitable.

             In fiscal year 2016, the 50 states and the District of Columbia spent $1.2 trillion in state revenues. By far, over half of state spending, on average, are spent on education (both K-12 and higher education) and health care. Understanding where state tax dollars go – and the trends in state spending – can help state policymakers make good decisions about how to pay for important services now and in the future.

            After reading this article, consider:

1. Provide a rationale for states’ spending priorities.
2. Discuss why the spending mix varies from state to state.

            Motivating taxpayers to provide funds need to meet increasing educational needs is challenging. But findings from this study may help. Using statistical modeling and national data, RAND researchers analyzed how increase in educational attainment are associated with tax revenues, funds for social support and insurance programs, and spending on incarceration. Findings: For all racial/ethnic groups, an increase in a student’s educational attainment – such as completing high school rather than dropping out – is associated with substantial value for taxpayers over time – even for taxpayers without children (or grandchildren) in public schools.  [Read Summary, pages xiii – xx; Chapter 3: Payments for Taxes and Social Programs, pp. 31-40.]

After reading this report, consider:

1. Explain why increasing students’ educational attainment leads, on average, to substantially increased payments into – and reduced demands on – the public budget.
2. Identify the different types of taxes that you contribute to your state and federal government.
3. You are the member of your town council tasked with the responsibility of addressing your local taxpayer’s association about why they should support public school funding. Prepare a 3-minute talk using RAND information to persuade them that spending taxpayer dollars to increase educational attainment [in ways supported by evidence]– even for children not their own – can yield net benefits to the public budget

American public schools have been – and continue to be – deeply unequal. People typically blame teachers, parents, and students at dilapidated and underperforming schools for poor student performance.  The truth is more complex. Student performance also depends on structural factors – such as funding and the particular resources they bring to the learning situation.  In this context, the 2018 federal tax law has the potential to make it easier for parents to send their children to private schools and place more obstacles in front on the neediest students.  Is this a stealth massive “transfer of wealth”?

            After reading this article, consider:

1. Explain how funding the wealthiest 25% of school districts with 15% more in per-student funding from state and local governments as compared to the poorest 25% of school districts can significantly disadvantage students who need the most supports to achieve as well as their more affluent peers.
2. Describe how the newly expanded 529-college savings plans can jeopardize public education.
3. Summarize the “false pretense” that school choice advocates present.
4. According to a Stanford University study, over the past two decades, the gap in academic achievement between children from high-income families and low-income families is approximately 40% larger among children born in 2001 than among those born 25 years earlier.  Why do you think that is?
5. Discuss how the 2018 tax law can make the disparities in educational expenditures (and student academic performance) between high and low-income schools worse.

            States differ in their taxing and spending, varying widely in the amount of revenue that they and local governments collect from taxes, fees, and changes, and how much they spend on public goods and services such as schools, roads, and hospitals.  States also differ in fiscal capacity. This report looks at states’ revenue capacity and expenditure needs as well as the difference between the two measures – the fiscal gap and capacity.  Policy makers and citizens wanting to understand how their state’s fiscal choices –revenue capacity and revenue effort – compare to the national standard will find this report eye-opening. 

Read the Executive Summary and Overview, pp. vi – 6; scan the rest of the report as needed to consider:

1. Summarize the factors that account for the state and local revenue and spending differences.
2. Identify at least five factors that account for the wide variance among states in the amounts of revenue collected and the amounts spent.
3. Identify three facts about your own state regarding its revenue collections (in general sales taxes, property taxes, individual income taxes, corporate income taxes, and general charges) relative to its per capita capacity.  What conclusions about your state can you draw from these data?

            Many states include measures of tax capacity (wealth) and tax effort (a comparison of actual revenues raised in each jurisdiction relative to its taxable wealth) in their school funding formulas so the state government has a rational basis for providing additional aid to school districts with fewer local resources to fund schools. Historically, states use the market value of real estate as an important element in measuring school district capacity and tax effort in relation to capacity. This measure is flawed, however. Although Pennsylvania published this policy brief, explaining the strengths and weaknesses of various measures of tax need and capacity, the concepts and practices hold true for many states.

            After reading the policy brief, consider:

1. Explain why policy makers would specify no ideal level of tax effort or capacity.
2. Describe two approaches to measuring a locality’s tax capacity and give examples of each. Which approach does the jurisdiction in which you work use?
3. Discus why it is difficult to compare tax capacity or tax effort from one jurisdiction to another.
4. Give your ideas about why not all states use tax effort as a component of school finance.
5. Discuss the implications of decisions regarding tax capacity and tax effort for schools and students.

            Since the early nineteenth century, U.S. localities have used property taxes mainly to support elementary and secondary education. This article provides an overview of the importance of property taxation and the court cases since 1971 that impact how localities use property taxes to pay for local schools.

            After reading this article, consider:

1. Explain why property taxes have been at the center of many state court cases.
2. Summarize the four criteria for school funding that state courts have established and identify the implications for funding schools within a state.
3. Explain the limitations of foundation programs to provide either equitable or adequate school funding.
4. Explain how the concept of educational adequacy affects school funding.
5. Discuss how states determine what constitutes an “adequate education.”
6. Describe several models of state fiscal aid to schools. If you were the decision maker, which approach would you recommend, and why.
7. Summarize how the ability of property taxes to support local schools is eroding.
8. Explain what happens to funding and schools when states eliminate local property taxes for local school support almost entirely.

            What is the hope for remedying fiscal equity problems? Since the founding of public school systems in the 1800s, most states have experienced obstacles trying to equalize education funding among schools and districts.  Widespread dependence on property taxes to fund local schools meant that students living in districts with high-priced houses or commercial properties received substantially greater resources to support their education than students living in less affluent districts.  Although court challenges have advanced fiscal equity for education, challenges remain.

            After reading the article, consider:

1. Explain how educational adequacy funding is a promising development to reduce disparities in school funding between wealthy and poor districts.
2. Discuss at least four persistent challenges to fiscal equity and adequacy.
3. Explain how state differences in population density, stability, poverty, minority composition, and other demographic factors affect equity considerations and make interstate comparisons difficult.
4. Identify several strategies that district and state policymakers can use in their pursuit of greater equity in school finance.

            Since No Child Left Behind (NCLB, 2001 – 2015), the federal government has required public schools publish their student achievement test results as a proxy for accountability.  This approach – federal to state accountability – has unintended consequences, such as not allowing voters to draw valid inferences about their schools’ quality.  As a result, poor school performance tends to result in less voter support for school levies in those very districts where the students and schools need the most fiscal support, undermining the quality of public education.

            After reading this article, consider:

1. Define performance federalism and explain its role in standardized testing for school accountability.
2. Summarize how the NCLB measurement approach had serious shortcomings that undermined its potential for helping voters accurately assess their local school districts’’ performance.
3. Explain how voters’ view on Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) influenced their beliefs about school quality and affected their voting behaviors in local elections.
4. Discuss how NCLB’s flawed construction and use of the AYP performance metric may have undermined the federal goals of promoting academic achievement and closing the achievement gap between student subgroups.

            When it comes to positive student outcomes, money matters, schooling resources that cost money matter, and state school finance reform matter.  This report presents the relevant research that shows spending in ways that reduce class sizes for young children, for those with greater academic needs, and improves teacher quality have strong academic payoffs. Some findings also suggest that increasing and equalizing school funding in a substantive and sustained way may be most effective when it is part of a comprehensive set of efforts to improve teaching and learning.

            After reading the report, consider:

1. Discuss how inequitably funded schools can lead to dramatically different educational opportunities for children and add to differences in access to key educational resources, such as expert teachers, personalized attention, and high-quality curriculum.
2. Using Figure 1 (p. 2), explain the conceptual map of the relationship of schooling resources to children’s measurable school achievement outcomes.  Identify what some of the “trade-offs” might be.
3. Summarize the research that shows that large and sustained increases in school funding can make a positive difference in student outcomes, especially for low-income students.
4. Identify and discuss the schooling resources that cost money and that research findings suggest make a positive difference in student outcomes.
5. Explain how increases in teacher wages may be associated with increased student achievement.

When it comes to education, equality and equity are not the same. A National Board-Certified high school English teacher discussed the challenges of providing equity in public schools – ensuring that all students had equal educational opportunities.

After reading this article, consider:

1. Explain the difference between educational equality and educational equity. How would you describe the difference as conceived and practiced in your current school.
2. Describe the difference between horizontal and vertical equity and give examples of how these differences are conceived and practiced in your current school.
3. Discuss the benefits and challenges to school children’s parents to understand how and why horizontal and vertical equity are practiced in their children’s schools.
4. Support or refute the following statement about performance equity: “It is equitable to demand that two students with differing backgrounds, intellects, environments, dispositions, and unique needs achieve the same end point (or minimum standards). Justify your position with examples and/or reasonable argument.
5. Support or refute the following statement about monetary equity: Schools from low-income communities should receive more state resources to help students overcome the challenges associated with an impoverished background, even if it means taking those dollars from a different community.  Support your position.

No matter where they live, students must have the opportunity to learn. Fair school funding practice that ensure equal educational opportunity for all children are the essential precondition for school districts throughout states to deliver high-quality education and achieve higher educational outcomes. This 2014 “report card” examines the condition of states’ finance systems for education after the Great Recession while states were still wrestling with its aftermath. It argues for states to improve the fairness of their school finance systems.  [Note to professor: This may appear like a lot of reading, but actually consists of many tables and figures. Activities ask students to find data and draw implications for their own states]

After reading this report consider:

1. Table 1 (p. 3) shows concentrated student poverty in U.S. school districts. For your state, find the number of districts, student enrollment, and percent of enrollment attending schools with 10% to 20%, 20% - 30%, and 30% and over of concentrated student poverty. Add the three percents. Express what this tells you about the percents of students and number of districts in your state that need more school resources than other, more affluent schools.
2. Explain why existing measures of state school finance are limited in their usefulness and accuracy in assessing the current condition of school funding in the United States.
3. Explain what the authors mean by “fair school funding” and summarize the fairness principle
4. Describe the four separate but interrelated fairness measures in the Report Card used to compare the 50 states.
5. Using Table 2 (p. 13), compare your state’s funding level to others by rank nationally 2007 to 2011.
6. Using Table 3 (p. 15), compare your state in its relative grade and rank for fairness in funding distribution relative to student poverty. Using Figure 2 (p. 16). Determine whether your state’s funding distribution is Progressive, Flat, or Regressive in how it distributes school funds relative to student poverty.
7. Find your state on the regional funding profiles [Figures 5 -15] and describe its school funding profile relative to states nearby.
8. On Table 4 (p. 26), determine the trend your state has taken on state effort – how it uses its fiscal wealth – for funding education.
9. Use Table 5 (p. 29) to determine the coverage rate in your state for 2011 – the percent of school aged children enrolled in public schools and the ration of household income between public and nonpublic students.  What do these data suggest about your state taxpayers’ interest in financially supporting public education?
10. Using Table 6 (p. 31), find where your state falls by grade, rank, and direction of change on funding distribution, effort, funding level, and coverage since 2007.
11. Using Table 7 and Figure 16 (pages 33-34), find the percent of preschool enrollment for 3- and 4-year older by income level.  How well is your state doing in enrolling ow-income children into preschool? What are the implications for school readiness and primary grades’ success for these youngsters?
12. Use Table 8 (p. 36) and Figure 17 (p. 37) to find the pupil-teacher ratio for your state in 2011. Are high-poverty districts receiving a smaller pupil to teacher ratio than low-poverty districts?  What does this suggest about the extra teacher time high-needs students receive to be able to keep up with grade level work?
13. Use Figure 18 (p. 39) to determine the wage competitiveness for teachers in your state. How does the funding in your state for teacher wage competitive put it in a position to attract and retain high-quality teachers who are essential to student success?

            How can a state ensure an adequate level of education for all students, especially those with distinctive educational needs? After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1973 San Antonio v. Rodriguez that education was not a fundamental interest under the federal constitution, 44 of 50 state courts became the center of court cases trying to rectify inequities in state education finance systems. In this chapter, attorney and Teachers College, Columbia professor Michael Rebell reviews the history of these cases and discusses the concept of students’ rights to the opportunity for an “adequate” education.

            After reading thus chapter consider:

1. Discuss what Rebell means by an “adequate” education.
2. Explain how the “dearth of clear solutions and the lack of judicially management standards for navigating” education finance policy played a role in the Supreme Court’s Rodriguez decision. (p. 224).
3. Explain why the adequacy approach to state funding of public schools (along with the standards-based reform movement) has been more successful than arguing for equal funding (“equity”) and complex property tax reforms.
4. Identify the constitutional core components – or the student capacities to develop – of an “adequate” education.
5. Discuss the implications of an adequate education for a democratic society.

            While education is expensive, providing poor and inadequate education for large number of students may be even more costly in the long run.  Fiscal inequities occur within school districts, shortchanging students and teachers in high-poverty schools while amply supplying more affluent schools with resources. Is this fair? Is it smart? And if not, how can we fix this situation?

            After reading this article, consider:

1. Explain the concept of “ripeness” when it comes to litigation.
2. Summarize the school finance cases since 1971, and explain how they move school finance beyond strict reliance on local property taxes (and beyond federal courts for school funding remedies).
3. Summarize the court cases on within-district fiscal inequity.
4. Discuss the causes – related to school/district and student characteristics and/or politics – that account for intra-district fiscal disparities.
5. Explain why determining intra-district funding inequities is difficult.
6. In your own school district, identify the “Alpha” and “Omega” schools.
7. Explain why you would prefer to work in an Alpha or Omega school.

            Do public school court-mandated spending reforms affect long-run adult labor market outcomes? This longitudinal study says, “Yes.”  The study finds that a 10% increase in per pupil spending each year for all 12 years of public school – with improved school inputs – leads to 0.31 more completed years of education, about 7% higher wages, and a 3.2 percentage point reduction in the annual incidence of adult poverty; effects are much more pronounced for children from low-income families.

After reading this article, consider:

1. Identify several limitations in prior studies of school spending and student outcomes that made it difficult to tell whether spending made a difference to students’ life outcomes.
2. Discuss the three reform-induced school spending factors that contributed to the improved student/adult outcomes.
3. Describe the differences between arguing in court for increased school funding based on the basis of equity as compared with adequacy.,
4. Express your response to this study’s findings as they relate to reducing intergenerational transmission of poverty.

            School districts that serve large numbers of student of color and students from low-income families receive much less funding – 13% less – than schools serving White and more affluent students.  See the condition of finding equity in your state.

            After reading this brief article, consider:

1. Describe how your state fares in school funding by student of color: Progressive, moderately progressive, neutral, moderately regressive, or regressive.  Did you know or suspect this status?
2. Identify how your state fares in school funding by students from low-income families.
3. Identify several states that defy these pattern of underfunding low-income, minority students.

            School district consolidation has been a major trend in public K-12 education, with the number of school districts dropping 88% from 1939-40 to 2006-07. Syracuse University Professors William Duncombe and John Yinger study the economics of size in public education. Their recent research finds both benefits and disadvantages from consolidating small school districts into larger ones.

            After reading this article, consider:

1. Explain how state aid programs that encourage consolidation are often contradictory. Why do you think this is so?
2. Describe the ways in school school district consolidation can cut costs.
3. Explain the difference between education spending and education costs.
4. Identify the conditions under which school districts may benefit from economies of size.
5. Discuss the disadvantages that school district consolidation brings.
6. Discuss the empirical findings about costs and non-cost effects (including equity) in school district consolidation.
7. Given these findings, if you were a consultant on district consolidation for your own district, what would you recommend and why?

            Too many children are denied access to high-quality education because they attend underfunded and under-resourced schools. Gross funding inequities exist in the United States, and too often, schools serving students with the greatest needs receive the fewest resources.  Many funding inequities are not solely due to differences in available resources.  Bruce Baker explains how many states are directing more tax dollars to lower-poverty school districts.

            After reading Part I [Chapter 1] of this report, respond to the following:

1. Express your reposes to the data in Tables 1 and 1a. Do you think local or state legislators share these data with taxpayers? Why or why not?
2. Explain the concepts of equal educational opportunity and desired student outcome goals as they related to school funding.
3. Identify the individual and contextual factors associated with the costs of achieving common outcomes.
4. Describe ways that state aid formulas, often designed to promote equity and adequacy can work against their own stated objectives (by “stealthily” directing more taxpayer dollars into lower-poverty districts).  Explain why you suspect this happens.
5. Describe how providing tax relief to high-income districts promote both inequity and inefficiency.
6. Summarize Baker’s recommendations for states to reduce their “stealth” school funding inequities.

            Too many children are denied access to high-quality education because they attend underfunded and under-resourced schools. Too often, schools serving students with the greatest needs receive the fewest resources.  In this chapter, Sean Corcoran explains how local revenues paly a role in resource disparities across low- and high-poverty schools.

            After reading Part 2 (Chapter 2) of this report, consider:

1. Describe how local property and non-property sources of revenues and state/local restrictions on raising revenues contribute to funding inequities in schools.
2. Select one of the states listed and give examples of techniques they use to fund their schools inequitably.
3. Identify what states can do to reduce reliance on local financing of public schools and ensure that high-poverty and low-wealth districts are not left behind.

            How are school funds currently apportioned by the states to local school districts? And what does this mean for students with special educational needs or higher costs to educate? After a brief history of funding schools in the United States, survey data from all 50 states focuses on state finance policies and programs for elementary and secondary education, especially for special education populations.

            After reading this article, consider:

1. Identify and discuss the trends in financing public education from the colonial period to today. 
2. Summarize the types of school finance systems currently in use. Using Table 1 and discussion that follows, identify the types of state funding formulae your state uses for public elementary and secondary schools.
3. Explain how states generally pay for special education programs and services. Using Tables 2 and 3, identify the methods your state uses to pay for the extra costs of educating students with special needs.
4. Using Tables 4, 5, and 6identify your state’s funding for low-income students, students with Limited English Proficiency, and English Language Learners (respectively).
5. Using Tables 7 and 8, identify whether your state providing funding for Debt Service and capital Outlay and for Transportation.
6. Discuss the conclusions you can draw about trends in state financing of education, especially or meeting the needs of students who cost more to educate to state standards.

            Not all students have access to well qualified and effective teachers. In state after state, studies have found that students of color in low-income schools are 3 to 10 times more likely to have teachers who are uncertified, not fully prepared, or teaching outside their field of preparation than students in predominately white and more affluent schools. This “opportunity gap” contributes to achievement gaps. Many factors contribute to this inequitable situation. This article discusses the issue of how and why teacher quality is inequitably distributed by reviewing research and examining data on school funding, salaries and teacher qualifications from California and New York. Authors present solutions to remedy this situation.

            After reading the article, consider:

1. Discuss why teacher qualifications including academic background, preparation for teaching, certification status, and experience matter greatly for student achievement.
2. Identify and discuss policy efforts – and their success or failure [and why]– to address inequitably teacher quality.
3. Discuss what research finds as the role of salaries and working conditions in recruiting and retaining high quality and effective teachers.
4. Explain how unequal school resources impact high quality teacher recruitment and retention.
5. Summarize the study’s findings about teacher quality disparities between high and low-wealth school districts in California and New York and the role of school resources (money to buy needed people and materials) in creating and sustaining this situation.
6. Discuss possible promising solutions and threats to the teacher quality disparity between high-and low-wealth school districts.

            The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA, 1965) began a deal between the federal government and the states: billions of dollars in federal funds in exchange for a list of state activities. The funds were optional, but states choosing to keep receiving federal education dollars were accountable for producing results with those funds. In this paper, authors review the federal state bargain, look at “key lessons learned” from ESEA, and offer a new approach to accountability in the state-federal bargain (results in exchange for funding): performance “compacts.”.  (NOTE: Two of these authors, Aldeman and Smarick, are featured in video 8.1).

            After reading this paper, consider:

1. Describe how ESEA has evolved in focus, funding, accountability, and practice over time.
2. Discuss the three key lessons learned from NCLB.
3. Explain the three principles underlying the proposed “federal-state performance compacts.”
4. Summarize the differences between waivers and compacts.
5. Discuss your view of this proposal with other educators or classmates.

            Today, 35 states have a provision in their school funding formula that provides additional monies to districts serving more low-income students. But despite the progressive funding formulas on paper, many states do not achieve the goal in practice; and these extra funds do not always go to districts and schools serving the neediest students.

            After reading this paper, consider:

1. Explain the rationale for progressive state funding to counteract regressive local funding for schools.
2. Using Figures 3 and 4, identify where your state stands in the balance between regressive local funding and progressive state funding.  How well is your state doing in providing additional resources to high-needs schools and students?
3. Discuss how the addition of federal funds tips the overall balance of states to most being progressive in their school funding.
4. Discuss how economic segregation of schools affects funding progressivity. And how states can address this.
5. Discuss the historical, institutional, and political constraints that prevent additional funds going to high-poverty schools.

            Large-scale changes are happening to the teaching profession. Over the past decades (1987-2012), the types and kinds of persons going into teaching have changed dramatically. This exploratory research presents seven trends that describe today’s teachers as “larger, grayer, greener, more female, more diverse (race/ethnicity, consistent in academic ability, and less stable.” Why are these trends happening, and what do they mean?

After reading this article, consider:

1. Identify the major trends (and their causes) that have led to the rapid “ballooning” of the teacher workforce.
2. Discuss the misconceptions about they “graying” teacher workforce.
3. Discuss the implications for student behavior, learning, achievement, and financial issues of high numbers of beginning (“green”) teachers in the workforce.
4. Explain the factors that account for the increases in the number of female teachers today – and some of the implications.
5. Summarize what the researchers have learned about the increase in minority teachers.
6. Discuss the misconcepti0ons people in general have about teachers and their academic caiber relative to other professions.
7. Discuss the varying types of teacher turnover/attrition and its increase on recent years  and their implications for school culture/climate, student learning, and school finance.
8. Discuss the implications of these trends on the view of teaching as respected a profession.

            Should teachers be colorblind? Or should they develop the professional competence to understand their students’ varied cultural beliefs? Teachers’ beliefs influence their perceptions, judgment, and behaviors in the classroom.  Investigators study how cultural beliefs relate to aspects of teachers’ professional competence by comparing multiculturalism and colorblindness with beginning teachers. Only one set of these beliefs has positive outcomes for ethnic minority and immigrant students’ learning and achievement.

            After reading the article, consider:

1. Describe the differences between the “colorblind” and “multicultural” approaches to teaching culturally diverse students.  Which approach do you use?
2. Explain with examples why teachers’ beliefs about cultural diversity are an important factor in students’ opportunities to learn. 
3. Discuss the extent to which you find the model of professional competence for teaching in multicultural settings, Figure 1, accurate and useful (or not).
4. Explain why holding positive intentions towards teaching cultural minority and immigrant children are not enough to effectively teach them.
5. Discuss the major problem for teachers and students of the colorblind ideal in diverse classrooms.
6. Summarize this study’s limitations and relevance for teacher education and professional development for in-service teachers.

            In the world’s 41 richest countries, one in five children lives in relative poverty, and one in eight risks going hungry or not getting the right food. In the United States, one in five children faces food insecurity. How are these children supposed to perform well in school?

            After reading this article. consider:

1. Define relative child poverty and food security; explain why these factors should be a concern for school leaders and teachers. 
2. Identify where the U.S. stands among the richest nations in children’s wellbeing.  Discuss why you think this is the case and what might be done to improve the situation.

Students’ social and economic characteristics shape their cognitive and behavioral outcomes. This is well established. But policy makers seem to disregard this reality and instead, ask for better schools and teachers to close achievement gaps.  This report describes how five (of the many) social class characteristics depress achievement and suggest policies to address them.

After reading this article, consider:

1. Summarize the five social class characteristics noted in this paper that depress academic achievement.
2. Discuss why contemporary education reform efforts focus disproportionately on school and teacher incentives (as opposed to students’ background characteristics) as the means to narrow the achievement gap.
3. Describe the parenting practices can advance or impede children’s intellectual and behavioral development.
4. Explain how single parenthood, generally speaking, can affect children’s academic and social maturation.
5. Summarize how parents’ work schedules impact children’s academic and social outcomes.
6. Discuss how access to physicians can impact children’s cognitive and behavioral outcomes.
7. Explain how environmental toxin, such as lead, affect children’s cognitive and non-cognitive development.
8. Identify several recommendations to improve the cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes for low-income students.

            The language gap between rich and poor children begins in infancy.  This research followed English-learning infants from advantaged and disadvantaged families from 18 to 24 months using real-time measures of spoken language processing. Investigators found significant disparities in vocabulary and language processing efficiency already evident at 18 months between infants from higher-and lower-SES families. By 24 months, there was a 6-month gap between the SES groups in the skills critical to language development. What does this mean for school readiness and school success?

            After reading the article, consider:

1. Discuss the implications of the following statement: “The disparities in children’s cognitive performance at kindergarten entry that were attributable to SES differences were significantly greater than those associated with race/ethnicity” (p. 235).
2. Summarize the history of the debate about the early origins of SES-related disparities in cognitive skills relevant to school success.
3. Discuss the implications of this research for PreK and elementary teachers who want to support the academic and behavioral growth of their low-income students.
4. Identify the parental/caretaker and environmental sources of variability in young children’s early language proficiency.
5. Summarize the long-term consequences of early differences in language skills.
6. Discuss the implications of this research for Pre-K and elementary educators.

            The United States promises every child an equal opportunity to learn, regardless of circumstances or social class. But about 13% of children miss three or more weeks of school, enough to erode their achievement and jeopardize their chances of graduating. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires reporting chronic absence. What is the chronic absentee situation in the U.S., where does it mostly occur, and how can educators sand their community partners and public officials solve the chronic absence problem?

            After reading this article, consider:

1. Explain how chronic absenteeism both reflects and exacerbates the problems in students’ communities.,
2. Identify and summarize the five patterns that research finds characterize chronic absenteeism.
3. Using Table 7, page 16, characterize the chronic absentee condition in your state.
4. Discuss the six steps for using chronic absence data to take action. Determine the extent to which your own state (or district) has taken these steps. What is the chronic absence rate in your state (or school) according to grade, student population, and geography?
5. Using Table 8, page 29, which of these data are available regularly and which practices are your school administrators using to inform key stakeholders?
6. Using Figure 9, page 30, discuss the reasons for students’ chronic absences.

Over the past decade, the public investment in K-12 education has dramatically declined in many states. Some of the deepest cutting states have also cut income tax rates, weakening their main revenue source for supporting schools.  With public schools being an essential engine of economic opportunity, underfunding our schools undermines schools’ capacity to develop the intelligence and creativity of our next generation of workers and entrepreneurs.

            After reading this report, consider:

1. Discuss why you think so many states cut income taxes even as they continue to underfund their public schools.
2. On Figure 3, identify where your state falls on total state K-12 funding below 2008 levels.
3. Summarize reasons why many states cut their education spending so deeply.
4. Summarize the consequences of K-12 state and local education budget cuts.
5. Explain how deep budget cuts for education hamper states’ and districts’ ability to implement many of the education reforms that research shows improve student achievement.
6. Discuss how cuts to state and local education budgets can slow the economy and inhibit long-term growth.

            Local governments or agencies – including public schools – use budgets to describe its program plans for the upcoming year. This general primer on school budgeting discusses who is involved, the school budget’s role and purpose, the major school district budget categories, where the resources come from, where schools spend their monies, and how this information is related to the current federal budget proposal and local economic realities.

            After reading the article, consider:

1. Identify the persons/roles involved in creating the school budget.
2. Explain how the school budget process gives school leaders an opportunity to communicate with their community.
3. Discuss the amount of school budgets directed towards salaries and benefits.
4. Explain why school districts usually keep their state and local funds separate form federal funds.
5. Using Appendix B, summarize the school year budget calendar.

Educators are asked to do more with less.  When does it make sense to keep classes small? Which classes can be increased in size to cut costs? Marguerite Roza, a senior scholar at the Center on Reinventing Public Education and a research associate professor at the University of Washington, outlines a “mission-critical functions” (cost-of-services) approach to cutting school budgets that respect what happens in the classroom and informs strategic decision making. Notably, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires such school spending transparency. 

After reading the article, consider:

1. Explain the meaning of: “the classroom is where the mission-critical work happens and where the conversion of resources into services affects student performance.”       What is the value (or disadvantage) of expressing teaching and learning in this way?
2. Discuss how key cost drivers such as class sizes, teacher assignments and compensation, and the school schedules work to affect spending.
3. Discuss how spending more on core classes than on electives or spending more on electives than core classes, or more on higher-level (i.e., Honors, AP, IB) than mid- or lower-level (general or remedial) courses reflects the community’s, school division’s and/or principal’s priorities.
4. Discuss the policy implications for cost-of-services approach to school budgeting.

            In this age of public accountability, how can schools best maximize their current investments in teaching and learning? How can schools become more strategic and deliberative in their approach to school budgeting?  This document gives school leaders a “toolkit” to set goals, analyze spending patterns, build consensus on an effective approach, chose the right budget model, and track costs. It also directs school leaders to practical information to help shape resource decisions.

            After reading the document, consider:

1. Explain the typical disconnect between finite resources (school spending) and student learning outcomes in school district and building budgets.
2. Explain “resource reallocation” and its rationale as a means to better align resources with student needs.
3. Discuss the political and communication challenges involved with school resource allocation or reallocation.
4. Discuss the pros and cons of popular school budgets. Which types are best for aligning resources with students’ learning needs?  Which types does your school use?
5. Summarize the steps in the budget setting process recommended here and explain the rationale for each step.
6. Summarize the evidence for school resource reallocation strategies that improve student achievement. Which of these practices is your school district currently using?
7. Describe the extent to which your school’s leaders develop your school budget in ways aligned with – or contrary to – this report’s recommendations – and explain. 

            Student -based budgeting (SBB) comes with its opportunities and challenges. Although the “devil is in the details” of how a school system in structured and operated, this article provides a broad overview for school district leaders who are considering a SBB approach to constructing their school budgets.

            After reading the article, consider:

1. Explain why student-based budgeting works best when principals have greater autonomy over how to use these resources.
2. Discuss the opportunities – funding equity, budget transparency, resource flexibility, strong leadership, and incentives to attract and keep students – that SBB offers.
3. Discuss the challenges – potentially painful central office transition; complexity; fiscal oversight, compliance, and accountability; increased data needs; principal capacity; and added leadership burden – that SBB offers.
4. Given the pros and cons, what argument would you use to persuade your supervisor for or against initiating a SBB process for your school?

            Principals have a degree of authority or power to make major decisions affecting their schools.  More autonomy contributes to principal leadership and contributes to improved school performance. This article describes data from the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS,2011-2012) about how much autonomy principals report having and in what area. How much authority do principals perceive that they really have – and about what?

            After reading the article, consider:

1. Identify the areas that principals believe they have the most influence on decisions.
2. Discuss the school leadership implications of 90% of principals believing they had a moderate to major influence on how to spend their school budget.
3. Discuss how principals’ belief in their autonomy over budget decisions affects their other instructional leadership responsibilities.

            The Government Finance Officers Association has developed a series of Best Practices in School Budgeting which clearly outline steps to develop a budget that best aligns resources with student achievement goals. This article focuses on optimizing student achievement within available resources and gives a complete cycle for long-term financial planning and budgeting.  Aspiring or active principals can review these steps to see which best practices are – or are not – in place in their current school district/school and formulate ideas for improving local budgeting practices.

            After reading this article, consider:

1. Interview your principal and school district finance officer to determine the extent to which, in their view, each sub-step of Steps 1 and 4 are currently in place and the extent to which it is effective in generating student achievement improving budgets. Identify the suggestions they have to improve this “Plan and Prepare” and “Implement Plan.”
2. Interview your principal, the district superintendent, and a school board member to determine the extent to which, in their view, each sub-step of Steps 2, 3, and 5 are currently in place and the extent to which it is effective in generating student achievement improving budgets. Identify the suggestions they have to improve “Set Instructional Priorities” and “Pay for Priorities.”
3. Summarize your findings about the extent to which your current school district is following best practices for budgeting for student achievement and make three recommendations for where/how school leaders can improve their current process or practices.

            Budgets impact school operations. Prospective school principals need opportunities to learn how to use all school district information, financial and cultural, in becoming effective and ethical budget planners.  This article offers them and other school leaders a Constructivist model of how to develop school budgets.

            After reading this article, consider:

1. Respond to the following statement as a student in a principal preparation program: “Students must assimilate the new experience of building a school budget into an already existing framework of what they understand about how school buildings are organized for the education of children and how revenue and expenditure dollars are coded through the district accounting manual.”
2. Working with one or two classmates, select one of the schools mentioned and conduct the activities on pages 10-11 “What is asked of the students” using the totality of the information concerning their school district, their assigned building, and the windfall dollars. Present the proposed school budget orally and with illustrative graphics to the superintendent and board of education (your fellow classmates and professor) who will review and critique the proposed budgets.
3. Discuss your views on constructivist lessons such as provided in this article as an instructional approach to teaching future principals,

A society that invests in its children reaps real and lasting economic and social benefits. Rutgers University professor Bruce Baker’s How money matters for schools reviews a substantial body of research to answer three questions: (1) Does money matter? (2) Do schooling resources that cost money matter? and (3) Do state school finance reforms matter? The answers to all three questions is Yes.  Baker summarizes, “An increasing body of rigorous empirical evidence suggests that substantive and sustained state school finance reforms matter for improving both the level and distribution of short-term and long-term student outcomes.”

After reading the report, consider:

1. Summarize the three conclusions that Baker derives from the evidence of rigorous empirical research on school funding and student achievement.
2. Identify and discuss the key school resources that are positively associated with student outcomes.
3. Beginning with the Coleman Report (1966), trace the recent history of important studies linking school funding to student achievement.
4. Summarize the longitudinal studies of school finance reforms nationally and state-wide.
5. Discuss how ambitious goals, student characteristics, and district features can make a difference in the costs needed to educate all students to state standards.
6. If you were to recommend the most effective ways to invest dollars into student achievement in a high-needs district, what policies and practices would you recommend.

            “Does an increase in education funding yield better educational outcomes?” This rather straight-forward question has generated considerable controversy. This article briefly reviews the history of the spending and student achievement debate and elaborates on a 2016 study that finds increased spending to educational quality and quantity yields large improvements in educational attainment and improved labor market outcomes.  [The study is available in 11.3]

            After reading the article, consider:

1. Explain why the research question, “When is increased spending associated with improved academic outcomes?” shows a positive relationship whereas asking, “Does increased spending usually result in increased student achievement?” does not.
2. Identify the specific resources that research find tends to increase student achievement.
3. Summarize the Jackson, Johnson, and Persico (2016) findings on spending and long-term student outcomes.
4. Discuss how in addition to how the money is spent, the school district conditions also impact student outcomes.
5. Explain the challenges to the Jackson and collogues’ study.

This study links school spending and school finance reform data to detailed, nationally representative data on long-run adult outcomes for children born between 1955 and 1985 and followed through 2011. Findings reveal that a 10% increase in per pupil spending each year for all 12 years of public school leads to 0.31 more completed years of education, about 7% higher wages, and a 3.2 percentage point reduction in the annual incidence of adult poverty; effects are much more pronounced for children from low-income families.  

After reading this article, consider:

1. Explain why the researchers focused on long-run outcomes such as educational attainments and adult earnings rather than on student test scores.
2. Summarize the investigators’ rationale for using exogenous (court-ordered school-finance reforms and funding) influences on school spending and long-run adult changes rather than on endogenous (changes in resources decided inside the school district) forces and student outcomes.
3. Describe the equity issues involved in court-ordered school finance reform and their required spending changes,
4. Identify and discuss the interventions that appears to have the greatest positive impact on long-term outcomes for low-income children.
5. Discuss the policy implications of this and other studies supporting increased spending and improved educational attainment and adult employment outcomes.

Between 1990 and 2011, average real spending per pupil in K-12 schools rose by nearly 40%, mostly in low-income school districts. Did it make a significant difference in student outcomes?  This study looks at the impact on post-1990 school finance reforms on absolute and relative spending and achievement in low-income school districts.  Using the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), investigators found that reforms caused increases in student achievement in these districts following the school finance reform. They conclude that the implied effect of school resources on educational achievement – especially in low-income districts – is large.

After reading this study, consider:

1. Discuss how courts and legislatures can force improvements in school quality for students in low-income districts.
2. Explain the meaning of “adequacy” reforms to school spending as compared with “equity” reforms and how they have different impacts on the level and distribution of school funding.
3. Identify the challenges in estimating the causal effect of school funding on student outcomes.
4. Explain how the state-level school finance reform enacted during the adequacy era markedly increased the progressivity of school spending.
5. Discuss why school finance reforms reduced achievement gaps between high- and low-income school districts but did not have a measurable effect on resource or achievement gaps between high- and low-income (or white and black) students.

            The Coleman Report, Equality of Educational Opportunity, is the keystone for those committed to evidence-based education policy. Yet many educators and policy makers initially drew incorrect conclusions from it. Stanford economist Eric Hanushek, an early critic of increased spending for schools (and a recent believer that well-targeted resources do increase student achievement) updates what we understand about the 1966 Coleman Report and the influence of families and schools on students’ outcomes.

            After reading the article, consider:

1. Explain how reporters, educators, policy makers, and the public at large drew two, incorrect but long-lasting conclusions about families, money, and student achievement from the Coleman Report,
2. Describe how the Coleman Report shifted attention from defining a “good school” by its inputs into a view that defined a “good school” by its outputs/outcomes.
3. Describe the strengths and weaknesses of Coleman’s innovative (for the time) methodology.
4. Discuss how the Coleman study failed to identify the importance of teacher quality and within-school variations in teacher quality and its impact on student achievement.
5. Discuss the policy implications [and the extent of your agreement or disagreement] of the statement: “There now appears to be a general consensus that how money is spent is much more important than how much is spent.”
6. Discuss what you believe is the Coleman Report’s most important impact for today’s education policy and practice.

            Are low-income students taught by less effective teachers than high-income students?  Inequities in educational outcomes are substantial and persistent in U.S. schools. Students from high-income families tend to get better teachers as well as better academic outcomes than low-income peers. Would reducing this inequity narrow the achievement gap?  Do patterns of teacher hiring, development, and mobility affect student access to highly effective teachers? This value-added study takes a closer look.

            After reading this report, consider:

1. Describe the study’s sample.
2. Summarize how a value-added model measures teacher effectiveness works.
3. Table III.2 (p. 20) identifies 11 policies designed to improve the effectiveness of teachers in high-poverty schools relative to other schools. Identify which of these policies are currently in place in your own school district.
4. Discuss the study findings regarding access to effective teachers between low- and high-income students in this study, in general.
5. Describe the inequitable access to effective teachers that researchers found in a small number of study districts (mainly larger districts in the southern U.S.).  Discuss the extent to which this is true of your own school district.
6. Discuss the finding that both high- and low-incomes students are taught by a mix of more and less effective teachers.  Discuss the extent to which this is true of your own school district.
7. Explain how teacher hiring, transfer, and attribution relate to low-income students’ access to effective teachers.

Teachers are at a compensation disadvantage in the labor market. A large body of research shows that public school teachers and other government workers have total compensation that is lower – or at least no higher – than that of comparable private sector works. And the “teacher penalty” has grown over the years, with their pay declining relative to their comparable private-sector peers.

After reading the report, consider:

1. Discuss the trends in teacher salary over the past decades relative to other college-educated professionals working in the private sphere.
2. Describe how teachers’ non-wage benefits have fared over time and how this impacts the pay disparity with other college-educated professionals.
3. Using Table 2, describe the public school teacher and college graduate salary disparity for your own state and two neighboring states.

Many state retirement systems are on an unsustainable course, coming up short on their investment targets and having failed to set aside enough money to fund the pension promises made to public employees. Without new policies that commit states to fully funding retirement systems, the impact on other essential services—and the potential for unpaid pension promises—will increase. This brief outlines the primary factors that caused the widening divide in most states between assets and liabilities and identifies tools that can help legislators strengthen policies and better manage risk for their state’s retirement plans.

After reading this report, consider:

1. Identify three state policy choices that caused the trillions of dollars in unfunded pension liabilities.
2. Using Figure 1 (page 3), identify where your state stands in its funded ratio of your state pension plan (2016).  Identify where this is relative to the national U.S. average.
3. Discuss the state policies that would reduce their unfunded pension liabilities.

“The pension fog — a mix of optimistic projections, willful ignorance, and deferral of consequences — hangs heavily over the policy landscape. In 2016, teacher pension debt nationwide stands at $516 billion dollars. While this is a crisis situation by any definition, little has changed on the teacher pension policy landscape over the last decade.”  In this report, the National Council on Teacher Quality partnered with EducationCounsel, an education consulting firm, to present a comprehensive analysis on the health of teacher pension systems in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia on the basis of four goals for pension health: pension flexibility, sustainability, neutrality, and transparency.  The “magical thinking” must end.

After reading the report, consider:

1. Figure A (page i), only 16 states publicly disclose detailed information about pension debt, and only three states provide teachers with detailed information on retirement benefits.  Discuss reasons why you think states resist transparency on these critical issues.
2. Discuss the key findings that only 11 states nationwide meet any of the four goals for teacher pension health, and no state meets them all, and in 38 states, most of employer contributions (69%) to teacher pensions go towards funding the debt service on the system’s unfunded liabilities. 
3. Explain how the defined benefit plans for teacher pensions is contributing to this unsustainable situation.
4. Discuss the pension policy recommendations and identify which suggestions you personally support or disagree with.
5. Using the figures in this report, gather the data on where your state stands in regard to pension sustainability, pension flexibility, pension neutrality, and pension transparency.
6. Explain why the traditional teacher pension model of relatively low salaries (compared to other college-educated professionals working in the private sector) with defined benefit pensions no longer a workable plan.
7. Discuss the recommendations that the report gives for lifting the “pension fog.”
8. Identify the actions that you as an educator and taxpayer can have on the teacher pension decisions in your state.

Annually, states are contributing roughly $37 billion a year just to pay off teacher pension debts, and those pension debts can’t just be wished away. What are the choices states face in dealing with those large pension debts? Chad Aldeman, teacher pension expert, sees at least six options.

            After reading this article, consider:

1. Discuss the pro’s and con’s of each alternative solution suggested.
2. Identify several of the broader structural changes to teacher pensions that must accompany these alternatives if solutions are to be sustainable.
3. Explain how states are using a new generation of teachers to pay off their past debts rather than structurally reform their pension systems.
4. Discuss Aldeman’s ideal solution and the likelihood that states will adopt it.

Educational entrepreneurs or scam artists?  Charter management organizations are making money off taxpayers’ dollars, sometimes resulting from mismanagement and fraud. In 2016, the U.S. Department of Education’s (DOE) offices in Washington, DC determined that 22 of the 33 charter schools in their six-state review (California, New York, Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Texas) posed significant risk to the Department program objectives. These included: financial risk from waste, fraud, and abuse; lack of accountability over federal funds; and performance risk. These deficiencies were especially true for charter schools affiliated with certain educational management organization. Plus, the U.S. Department of Education did not implement adequate monitoring procedures to identify and mitigate the risks.  

After reading this report, consider:

1. Describe charter management organizations (CMOs) and explain their governance and funding.
2. Give examples of the significant risks in financial practices, lack of accountability over federal funds, and program performance risk that suggested fiscal misuse or malfeasance by CMOs.
3. Discuss possible remedies to identify and remedy such significant risks to taxpayer dollars by CMOs.

After Hurricane Katrina (2005), the state of Louisiana took over almost all of the New Orleans public schools from the local school district and turned them over to non-profit organizations. Students and families could choose to attend any school in New Orleans. Strong academic results for disadvantaged students ensued.  But report authors warn that these results were a “one-off” not likely to arise in other school districts.  Investigators present an interesting case study that may not be generalizable to other locales.

After reading the report, consider:

1. Summarize some of the positive outcomes of the New Orleans education reform move to an all-charter public school district.
2. Describe how the education reforms affected the achievement gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students in New Orleans.
3. Identify factors other than the move to charter schools in New Orleans that might help explain the positive student outcomes.
4. Discuss the role of state government in authorizing charters schools, setting performance standards, oversight, and accountability in the New Orleans’ charter school successes.

            New York Times columnist David Leonhardt looks at some of the shortcomings of the New Orleans charter experiment.  He writes that we need to think about school choice as a vehicle of education reform “in a more nuanced, less absolutist way.”  Charter schools are not a “magic bullet.”  What should we expect and what should we look for to decide how to best educate our children?

            After reading the article, consider:

1. Describe what Leonhardt sees as the two high-profile camps on education reform.  Discuss how each side distorts the facts about charters.
2. If these camps represent two ends of a continuum, where would you place yourself (and explain why).
3. Summarize what Leonhardt describes as the reality of today’s charter schools – strengths and weaknesses.
4. Discuss how education advocates can center their arguments around facts rather than on fixed beliefs.

            “Most of the nation’s school districts remain shackled to the traditional, simplistic salary schedule in which just two measures matter: years on the job and advanced degree attainment. “Although teachers with master’s degrees generally earn additional salary or stipends—the so-called “master’s bump”—they are no more effective, on average, than their counterparts without master’s degrees.”  Is it time to end this outdated tradition?

After reading the article, consider:

1. Describe the research findings on the relationships between teachers’ years of classroom experience, teachers’ advanced degrees (masters and doctorate), and student achievement.
2. Explain why the masters’ bump might be a lost opportunity for more meaningful compensation reform. Identify what it means financially for your state (Table 1, pages 4-5 and Table 2, pages 6 -7.
3. Explain how state-level policies impact the masters bump.  Using Table 3 (page 8), identify how your state policies stand on this issue.
4. Summarize the article’s policy recommends. Discuss which recommendations you strongly support or strongly disagree and explain why.

How can the teaching profession evolve to meet 21st century career expectations for a new generation of teachers and learners? Sustainable teacher career pathways can positively impact teacher recruitment, retention, job satisfaction, and student achievement. This 2016 review of eight successful established career advancement initiatives identifies factors that make it so.

After reading the report, consider:

1. Discuss the rationale for initiating sustainable and successful teacher career advancement initiatives.
2. Discuss the six design features that are essential for teacher career advancement initiatives.
3. Identify and discuss the features of a successful and sustainable teacher career pathways that would be most challenging for your school district to implement. Explain why this would be most challenging and explain what might be done to overcome these obstacles.
4. Discuss the eight teacher career initiatives described in this report, identify the ones you think you would most like to participate in, and explain why.
5. Discuss which teacher career initiative would best fit with your current school district and explain why.
6. Discuss the enabling conditions that allow a school district to successfully initiate and sustain teacher career pathways.  Identify which of these conditions are currently available in your own school district.
7. Discuss the costs – fiscal and otherwise – of initiating a successful teacher career initiative.