T HE B UDGET -V ISION R ELATIONSHIP
AND THE N ATIONAL S TANDARDS
Laurel Bartlett and Jamie Smith
S CHOOL LEADER CHALLENGES

Improving student academic achievement

Enrollment in public schools is at an all-time high of 53
million

Shortage of teachers (projection of 2.2 million new
teachers needed over the next 10 years)

Critical shortage of citizens who are willing to serve on
school boards

Fewer educators with leadership potential are willing to
serve as principals

More than $112 billion is needed to repair, replace, or
modernize public schools

Dropout rate is 13% for black students, 25% for Hispanic
students, and 8% for white students.
T WO I SSUES
M UST

School Budgeting

School Vision
SCHOOL LEADERS
CONFRONT DAILY

You can’t have one without the other.

It is the integration of vision within the school
budgeting process that transforms school
budgeting from merely number crunching to
purpose-driven expenditures that support
academic success for all students.
T HE N ATIONAL E DUCATIONAL
L EADERSHIP S TANDARDS

The need for a single set of research-based standards
led the states and professional organizations to
collaborate in developing such standards

Formation of Educational Leadership Constituent
Council- developed proposed guidelines to be
considered by university professors and other groups
interested in the formal training of school leaders.

Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortiumconstruct a framework that would redefine school
leadership by creating national educational
leadership standards
T HE N ATIONAL E DUCATIONAL
L EADERSHIP S TANDARDS R EQUIRE

active, not passive in performing duties

They assume that we are collaborative and
inclusive in conducting these duties

They do not ascribe to any particular theory of
leadership.
S HIFTS IN K NOWLEDGE
AND S KILLS

Scott Thomas (past executive secretary of the
National Policy Board for Educational
Administration), identifies 5 broad based shifts in
knowledge and skills required of educational leaders
today compared the traditional knowledge base.

3 of the 5 shifts identified by Thomas have an
integration of budgeting and vision
S HIFT F ROM T ECHNICAL S KILLS
TO I NTERPERSONAL S KILLS

This shift is all about vision. Gaining a common vision
for a school involves interpersonal skills rather than
technical skills.

Principals who were effective in advancing a school
vision were competent in 3 skills:

1. articulating a vision for their schools and openly
exchanging views with others about its
accomplishment;

2. persuading teachers and others in the school
community to internalize or incorporate the vision in
their daily conduct;

3. encouraging teachers and others to make personal
sacrifices toward its realization.
S HIFT F ROM D IRECTOR TO
C ONSENSUS B UILDER AND
M OTIVATOR

Involving as many stakeholders in the decision-making
process improved the quality of the decision as well
as the motivation for ensuring the successful
implementation of the decision.

Schools that make meaningful progress toward
accomplishing the school vision have principals who:

1. are effective in exchanging ideas about the vision
with others;

2. regularly encourage sacrifices on behalf of that
vision;

Work with teachers who freely accept and share the
campus vision
S HIFT F ROM R ESOURCE
A LLOCATION TO
A CCOUNTABILITY

This shift demands that school budgeting, vision,
and planning be an integrated process.

Principals can no longer allocate resources that
are not tied to measurable objectives.

The increased emphasis on improving student
achievement must focus on accountability.
School budgeting process and the vision process
must be integrated and synchronized in order for
schools to be successful in improving student
academic performance.
A N E XAMINATION OF THE
ELCC AND ISLLC
S TANDARDS : S TANDARD 1

Standard 1: A school administrator is an educational leader
who promotes the success of all students by facilitating the
development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of
a school or district vision of learning that is shared and
supported by the school community.

Budget and vision are not isolated variables.

When we accept the coupling of the two and understand their
combined effect on academic achievement, then budgeting
expands from a fiscal responsibility to a fiscal-vision
opportunity that in turn drives our planning for academic
success of all students.

The leader must then be a steward of the vision and makes sure
that the resources of the school are allocated in a manner that
supports the vision. The budget does not belong to the leader;
it belongs to the public who has sacrificed through payment of
taxes to provide the revenues for the budget.
A N E XAMINATION OF THE
ELCC AND ISLLC
S TANDARDS : S TANDARD 2

Standard 2: A school administrator is an educational
leader who promotes the success of all students by
advocating, nurturing, and sustaining a school culture
and instructional program conducive to student learning
and staff professional growth.

It is the responsibility of the school leader to nurture
and develop the school culture. It is within the culture
that traditions, values, and belies of various
stakeholders are manifested. It is important to get
everyone on board.

If we value the importance of integrating school vision
with the budget and planning process and we advocate
and nurture the integrated budget-vision planning
process, it will become part of the school’s culture.
A N E XAMINATION OF THE
ELCC AND ISLLC
S TANDARDS : S TANDARD 3

Standard 3: A school administrator is an educational
leader who promotes the success of all students by
ensuring management of the organization, operations,
and resources for a safe, efficient, and effective learning
environment.

Safe learning environment requires that we properly
budget for required safety materials and services.

An efficient learning environment is one that functions
well to achieve a desired result without waste. It is
imperative that the budget process be integrated with
the goals and objectives of the campus to obtain
optimum results.
A N E XAMINATION OF THE
ELCC AND ISLLC
S TANDARDS : S TANDARD 4

Standard 4: A school administrator is an
educational leader who promotes the success of
all students by collaborating with families and
community members, responding to diverse
community interests and needs, and mobilizing
community resources.

All stakeholders must possess ownership of the
school’s action plan and recognize the
importance of allocating community resources.
S PECIAL N OTE

An example of added costs to the public when education is not successful is found
in the prison system. A 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey revealed that 51% of
prisoners in state and federal prisons had their high school diploma or equivalent,
compared to 76% of the general population.

This same survey also reported that 11% of inmates reported that they had a
learning disability. This is nearly three times the national learning disability rate of
3% (2001)

Keeping a person in prison costs more than three times the amount it takes to
educate a child. The average per-pupil expenditure for students in U.S. public
elementary and secondary schools in 2002-2003 was $8,041. (Utah $4,838,
lowest and New Jersey $12,568, highest)

In 1998 the cost for new beds in prisons ranged from $29,311 to 70,909.
Maintaining a prisoner in the bed costs $25,000 per year.

The cost to the public for schools not being successful is also reflected in the
median earning of adults based on educational attainment. The more educated a
person is, the greater the person’s is likely to be. Additionally, the earlier a person
drops out of school, the lower the person’s income is likely to be.

When schools fail to achieve the national standards call for academic success for
all students, then schools can expect other systems to compete with them for
public resources.
A N E XAMINATION OF THE
ELCC AND ISLLC
S TANDARDS : S TANDARD 5

Standard 5: The school administrator is an
educational leader who promotes the success of
all students by acting with integrity, fairness, and
in an ethical manner.

Standard 5 reminds us that character does in fact
count.

Integrity, fairness, and ethical behavior are a trio
of concepts that that school leaders struggle to
define.
E XAMINING

T RIO
Integrity: soundness of and adherence to moral
principle and character


THE
Integrity: Leaders who value integrity are not only
interested in results but are also interested in
relationships. If we lack integrity, our school is at
risk; doubt and fear will replace integrity.
Fairness: free from bias, dishonesty, or injustice

Does not mean ensuring that everyone gets the
same amount of something or the same treatment.
Fairness is when everyone receives what is needed
in order to successfully accomplish their goals.

Our schools perish when there is a lack of vision.
(Sounds familiar)

Ethics: a system of moral principles.

School leaders must act in an ethical manner when
handling discipline problems, implementing state
mandated accountability testing, managing school
budgets, consulting with parents, supervising faculty
and staff, and in a host of other situations.

The Principal of Benefit Maximization: this requires
us to make choices that provide the greatest good for
the most people.

The Golden Rule: Treat others with equal value. We
must value all people and respect their educational
goals.
An Examination of the
ELCC and ISLLC
Standards: Standard 6

Standard 6: A school administrator is an
educational leader who promotes the success of
all students by understanding, responding to, and
influencing the larger political, economic, legal,
and cultural context.

Acknowledge that our schools do not operate in
a vacuum.

Standard 6 is a call for us to understand our
interconnectedness with each other and with the
rest of the globe.
A N E XAMINATION OF THE
ELCC AND ISLLC
S TANDARDS : S TANDARD 7

Standard 7: A school administrator is an educational leader who
promotes the success of all students by substantial, sustained,
standards-based experiences in real settings that are planned and
guided cooperatively by university and school district personnel for
graduate credit.

This is the “odd duck.” This standard is meant to call attention to the
fact that this standard is no different in nature than the previous six.

Unlike the first six standards that draw upon the needs of all of the
stakeholders in the educational process this ELCC standard focuses
primarily on practicing and future school leaders.

A long look at this standard reveals an image of servant leader.

This internship-based standard provides significant opportunities for
the educator to synthesize and apply the knowledge and practice
and develops the skills identified in the first six standards.

Standards 1-6: budget-vision relationship

Standard 7: school leader and all others in supporting roles.
F INAL
THOUGHTS

School budgeting and vision must be considered
simultaneously in the planning process in order
for schools to increase their likelihood of
achieving the Utopian goal of “all students
meeting with success.”

The trick is for school leaders to incorporate the
generalities of the national standards into
practical steps to achieve the ideal of academic
success for all students.