Notes
Chapter 9: Financing and Governing America’s Schools
Chapter Preview
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Who pays for U.S. schools?
o Decentralized, politically charged systems of school funding and school
governance
Sources of financial inequity
o How reformers are pursuing strategies to keep effective education within the
reach of all people
Raising public funds to adequately support education
Day to day classroom life:
o Affected by: Economic issues and the ways in which schools are governed
Follow the Money: Financing America’s Schools
Why Should Teachers Care Where the Money Comes From?
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Key decisions are considered beyond teachers’ knowledge or influence
The amount of money spent in a school directly related to how well students learn
o Money is the key to what is happening in schools!
Teachers are advocates for children who are excluded from policy decision making
o Children are not yet of voting age
The Property Tax: The Road to Unequal Schools
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The Untied States has a decentralized school funding system
o Federal, state and local governments are all distributing funds
o State and local share the biggest responsibility
“Local control” of schools
Property tax: tax assessed based on the value of one’s property
o Major source of school revenue
o Whether a school district is wealthy depends largely on the wealth of the
community being taxed
Municipal overburden: the need to use tax revenue resources to fund more community
necessities (police, fire, hospitals, transportation, etc.)
Reforming Education Finance
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San Antonio v. Rodriguez (1973): The supreme court ruled against Rodriguez’s claim
of equal protection under the law
o Based on history of communal funding for schools
o Preserving local control of schools
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o The Supreme Court decided that it was the states’ responsibility to change the
“local control” system
 It was not the federal government’s responsibility
Serrano v. Priest (1971): CA Supreme Court-State’s financing system was determined
to be unconstitutional
o The property tax system violated equal protection under the law
o “Districts with smaller tax bases cannot levy taxes at a rate sufficient to produce
the revenue that more affluent districts produce with minimum effort” (353).
Robin Hood reformers: people that took funds from wealthier districts and redistributed
it
o Programs to equalize funding
o The minimums are far below what is spent
o Wealthier tax payers became furious that their money was being transported from
their children’s schools to poorer schools
Guaranteed tax base programs: adds state funds to poorer districts
o Helps reduce economic inequities
o Is it unfair that wealthier districts aren’t receiving extra state funding?
 Tax dollars
Robin Hood’s New Arrow: Adequacy
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Critics: evening with additional funding, the academic success of failing schools would
not change
o Redistributing tax dollars was politically unpopular and was ineffective
Educational outcome versus Financial input
o Student achievement versus per-pupil spending
Adequate Education guarantees: ensure that all students have the basic skills they need
to be effective citizen and compete in the labor market
o Just get the basic skills?
o What constitutes basic skills?
Does Money Matter?
Explanations of inequities in school funding
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Local Control: it was left to local communities in rural America to support their schools
Horatio Alger: rags-to-riches:
o American belief that wealth and success are the fruits of individual effort and that
an individual’s circumstances are merely obstacles to be overcome.
Genetics: Genetic differences have been used to explain why some succeed and some fail
o Historically argued
Culture of Poverty: some believe that poor people live in and are shaped by the problems
inherent in impoverished communities
o Such problems cannot be remedied through school funding
Flawed Studies: 1960s study: school quality and funding has less of an effect on student
achievement than family background or peer groups
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o School funding is unrelated to student achievement
Previous Funding Increases Have Not Resulted in Achievement Gains:
o Although education spending has increased, tests scores have not
States Finding the Money
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Where does money come from to support schools
o Sales tax: a change added to sales
o Moving businesses to states with lower sales taxes
 Reduced the amount of revenue states earn
o Personal income tax: brings in more than 25% of state revenue
 Not used in Texas
 Collected through payroll deduction
 A percentage of income (not a specific value amount)
o State lotteries: Most states use lottery revenues to supplement parts of an
established education budget (not fund education necessities)
The Federal Government’s Role in Financing Education
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Economic gaps between states
o Interstate inequity
Federal government influences:
o Categorical grants: funds directed at specific categories and targeted educational
needs
 Preschool program funding (Head Start)
 Library construction
 Technology acquisition
 Veteran education opportunities
 Teacher and administrator training
 Educational research
 Free-lunch programs
 College loans
o Block Grants: large sums of money that have great latitude in how they are able
to be spent
o United States Department of Education:
 Raising federal involvement in education
 Influences schools by conducting research, publishing information,
proposing legislation and disbursing targeted federal funds
What the Future May Hold for School Finance
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We are in a period of shifting governmental responsibility
Reformers are focusing less on financial inequity and more on educational inadequacy
Accountability
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The public wants to see academic progress for their tax dollars
Student and educator testing
Graduation based on performance
Identify specific goals for schools
o Responsible for reaching said goals
Choice Programs
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Reformers are promoting business culture and the value of competition as they keys to
school improvement
The Economy’s Impact on School Budgets
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State and local budgets are cut when the economy is not doing well
Fewer employed teachers
Larger class sizes
Elimination of sports and extra-curricular activities
End school years earlier
Local Fundraising
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Wealthier districts are coming up with other ways to work around funding redistribution
o PTA donations
o Online fundraisers
o Cooperative agreements with local businesses
o Tax-sheltered private education foundations
Brings money for technology, science equipment, devices for special needs students,
college scholarships
Decaying Infrastructure
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Repairing versus replacing older schools buildings
o Cheaper!
Dept. of Education estimates that 25,000 schools need major repairs
Bonds
o Give local communities the money they need to build the schools and 15-20 year
to pay it off
Governing America’s Schools
The Legal Control of Schools
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School boards: determine educational policy and their members tend to be male,
Caucasian and over 50 years old
o Similar to government leaders
o Appointed versus elected leaders (depends on the state)
 In Texas: elected
 Vote: They are very influential and determine monies spent on school
districts!
State Board of Education: responsible for formulating educational policy
o Members are usually appointed by the governor
o Some are elected state-wide
Chief State School Officer: Superintendent: responsible for overseeing, regulating and
planning school activities, as well as implementing the policies of the board of education
o Usually selected by the board of education
o Sometimes elected
State Department of Education: performs the administrative tasks needed to implement
state policy
o Licensing teachers, testing student progress, providing information and training to
teachers, distributing state and federal funds, overseeing that districts are
complying with laws, conducting educational research
School Districts-Local School Boards and Superintendents
o Handles local school operations
o May be responsible for:
 School construction, taxing, budgeting, hiring school personnel,
curriculum decisions, local school policy
o Must operate within the rules of the state
State Influence Grows as School Boards Come Under Fire
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Arguments against school boards:
o Become immersed in administrative details
o Not representing local communities
o Politics of school board elections
o Do not support current educational reform proposals
o Too limited in scope to respond to all contemporary concerns of children
 Health, social, nutritional
o If financed less from local funds and more from state funds they will be less
influential
o Call for new governance organizations
 Make the school board less important or unnecessary
The School Superintendent and Principal
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Superintendents: expected to supervise and hire teachers, examine students and buy
supplies, kept school records, developed exams, chose textbooks and trained teachers
o Because it was too burdensome for school boards
Now considered to be the educational expert
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Always trying to please various groups and communities
o High visibility, high stress
Covert Power in Schools
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Covert Power
Unofficial, highly powerful groups of people
o Parents, school secretaries, community groups
Hidden Government of schools
Business and Schools
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Business values are influential in school practices
o Often mirror business values
 Hard work, competition, dependability, punctuality, neatness, conformity
and loyalty
Educational Partnership: companies that formalize relationships with schools
o Dedicated personnel or products or exclusive rights contracts (Ex: Coca-Cola)
Making Schools More Responsive
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Teachers have often been removed from involvement in school governance
o Many crucial decisions are made by outsiders
o Feeling of teacher powerlessness
 Site-based or school-based management shifts decision making from the
central district office to individual schools
 Collaborative decision making: creates teacher committees to share
power between principal and faculty
 Faculty may not feel comfortable coming forward
 Yet another thing teachers “have to do” versus enjoyment of
participation in decision making
Consolidation: Merging smaller schools and districts into larger ones
o More red tape, greater, student alienation, reduced parent-teacher involvement
o Less responsive schools
Decentralization: Creating smaller schools and smaller districts