School Spending Is Poorly Tracked, at Odds With Policy Goals
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School finance expert Marguerite Roza doesn't mince words in her new book on education spending. Of mandated student-achievement standards, she writes, "It seems reasonable that policymakers and researchers should know how much it costs to achieve them. The problem is, no one has a clue."
Roza's "Educational Economics: Where Do School Funds Go?" uncovers an education-finance system in which district after district does not know or does not effectively calculate how resources are allocated among its schools. School leaders who try to track dollars and services from the district to each school often use district averages to estimate per-school spending. But averages, writes Roza, mask wide variations in the actual distribution of experienced teachers, enrichment programs, and social services among schools in the same district.
More than an accounting problem, the current practices make it nearly impossible for education leaders to align spending with goals. In fact, Roza finds districts whose objectives and resources are not just weakly linked, but
School finance expert Marguerite Roza doesn't mince words in her new book on education spending. Of mandated student-achievement standards, she writes, "It seems reasonable that policymakers and researchers should know how much it costs to achieve them. The problem is, no one has a clue."
Roza's "Educational Economics: Where Do School Funds Go?" uncovers an education-finance system in which district after district does not know or does not effectively calculate how resources are allocated among its schools. School leaders who try to track dollars and services from the district to each school often use district averages to estimate per-school spending. But averages, writes Roza, mask wide variations in the actual distribution of experienced teachers, enrichment programs, and social services among schools in the same district.
More than an accounting problem, the current practices make it nearly impossible for education leaders to align spending with goals. In fact, Roza finds districts whose objectives and resources are not just weakly linked, but