Educational Economics: Where Do School Funds Go?
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Center on Reinventing Public Education, Marguerite Roza, 2010
As federal and local budgets tighten, pressure mounts to spend every dollar right. Yet our current school funding system is so messy and complex that officials often have a hard time even comparing per-pupil funding from one school and program to another. In this concise analysis, Marguerite Roza tracks the often inequitable and illogical results of a finance system split between federal block funding, foundation grants, earmarks, set-asides and union mandates. Nationwide, resources flow toward upper-income and high-achieving students rather than their at-risk peers. Schools are forced to fund electives and athletics above core subjects. And per-pupil allocations can vary widely even within a district. Given the messy, circular nature of the problem, Roza advocates a sweeping set of reforms. Among the elements she proposes: an open market for providers and a money-follows-the-child system, weighted based on student characteristics.
CT Context
Roza’s call for an overhaul of school finance parallels ConnCAN’s report on Connecticut’s antiquated, opaque
Center on Reinventing Public Education, Marguerite Roza, 2010
As federal and local budgets tighten, pressure mounts to spend every dollar right. Yet our current school funding system is so messy and complex that officials often have a hard time even comparing per-pupil funding from one school and program to another. In this concise analysis, Marguerite Roza tracks the often inequitable and illogical results of a finance system split between federal block funding, foundation grants, earmarks, set-asides and union mandates. Nationwide, resources flow toward upper-income and high-achieving students rather than their at-risk peers. Schools are forced to fund electives and athletics above core subjects. And per-pupil allocations can vary widely even within a district. Given the messy, circular nature of the problem, Roza advocates a sweeping set of reforms. Among the elements she proposes: an open market for providers and a money-follows-the-child system, weighted based on student characteristics.
CT Context
Roza’s call for an overhaul of school finance parallels ConnCAN’s report on Connecticut’s antiquated, opaque
Creating a New Teaching Profession
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Urban Institute, Eds. Dan Goldhaber and Jane Hannaway, April 2010
Summary
Studies show that teachers are the most important schooling factor in whether or not a student achieves in the classroom. In this new book, Goldhaber and Hannaway set forth a range of ideas for strengthening the teaching corps—from a selective, portable national teaching credential to a revamped retirement system. The book suggests that coherence and coordination are key: smart hiring, for instance, needs to be supported by smart salary policies. Whereas current school policies tend to treat all teachers as interchangeable, the book advocates the creation of more specialized, differentiated teaching positions and a more flexible, performance-
Urban Institute, Eds. Dan Goldhaber and Jane Hannaway, April 2010
Summary
Studies show that teachers are the most important schooling factor in whether or not a student achieves in the classroom. In this new book, Goldhaber and Hannaway set forth a range of ideas for strengthening the teaching corps—from a selective, portable national teaching credential to a revamped retirement system. The book suggests that coherence and coordination are key: smart hiring, for instance, needs to be supported by smart salary policies. Whereas current school policies tend to treat all teachers as interchangeable, the book advocates the creation of more specialized, differentiated teaching positions and a more flexible, performance-
