School Funding Myths & Stepping Outside the “New Normal”
I’ve been writing quite a bit lately about rather complex state school finance formula issues. That is much the point of this blog. But it may be hard for some to see how my recent posts on school finance relate back to the broader reform agenda, and to understand the implications of these posts for state policies. Let me try to summarize these posts – posts on spending bubbles, the “New Normal” and school finance PORK. My overarching goal in these posts is to explain that much of the reformy rhetoric about budget cuts and the “New Normal” is based on myth about how school funding works and what we should be doing in these catastrophic economic times.
Here are the myths and some of the realities.
Reformy myth #1: That every state has done its part and more, to pour money into high need, especially poor
