School Finance/Business Management
EDU 6315
SYLLABUS
SPRING 2014
HYBRID
Amber Keller
February 8, 2014
Many members of the general public and the policy community believe that school districts are
going bankrupt, teachers are underpaid, and educator layoffs are rampant (see “The
Compensation Question,” forum, Fall 2012, forthcoming). Inaccurate media reporting, naive
celebrity comments, education-advocate laments, social-media babble, and talk-show dialogue
reinforce this view.
What are the facts? Total K–12 public-school spending approaches $700 billion annually.
Inflation-adjusted per-pupil school spending has increased over the last century by, on average,
2.3 percent per year. There have been a few plateau years during recessions, but never a
significant decline (see Figure 1).
As a consequence, the United States now spends more money on K–12 schooling than any other
nation in the world. More is spent by the United States, in the aggregate, than by hugely
populous nations such as China and India. Spending per pupil is higher in the U.S. than in every
country except Switzerland.
Achievement levels in the U.S. are not commensurate with spending, however. Many nations
exceed the United States in science and math test scores, for example.
http://educationnext.org/public-schools-and-money/
Spending increases have been directed overwhelmingly toward adding
school employees. Professional-to-pupil ratios have become ever more
favorable. Whereas 30 years ago there was one professional educator
employed for every 18.6 public school students, the equivalent figure
today is one for every 15.4 students. When other personnel are added to
the mix—cafeteria workers, custodians, clerks, and so forth—the ratio
falls to one employee for every 7 students.
School productivity, measured as educational outcomes divided by labor
or financial inputs, has declined dramatically. Indeed, relative to sectors
such as communication, finance, manufacturing, and agriculture, the
public schools are highly labor-intensive. The productivity picture is
made worse by the resistance of schools to augment teachers’ efforts
with new instructional technologies.
http://educationnext.org/public-schools-and-money/
District Goals
• Ensure the budget adequately supports the district’s mission, vision and goals.
• Review monthly budget reports and take appropriate actions.
• Continue to meet and collaborate with municipal and legislative leaders on fiscal matters.
• Continue to work with municipal officials in support of town financial plans.
• Continue to work with Grand Prairie Commerce and the community to articulate the needs for
the renovation of all schools in the district.
• Appoint a budget subcommittee to monitor budget development
Campus Goals
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Goal 1: Develop and implement a system of academic interventions.
Goal 2: Reduce course/subject failure rates.
Goal 3: Develop subject area vertical alignment.
Goal 4: Engage parents and the community in the education process.
Goal 5: Prevent campus violence and ensure appropriate methods of
intervention
Development of SGPHS Budget
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Contact with Julie Spears, head of finance for GPISD
Contact with Ms. Kracmer, head of finance for SGPHS
Discussion of needs for SGPHS
Discussions of available funding for both the district and SGPHS
individually
• Excel information entered
• Discussion of the difference variant
Function 11 Instructional
• Allotted salaries $148,070
• 75.79% of overall budget
• Differentiated instruction is a way to reach students with different
learning styles, different abilities to absorb information and different
ways of expressing what they have learned. Laura Robb is an expert in
the field of differentiated instruction, and, as such, she has command
of the theory and research as well as hands-on experience in the
classroom.
Function 12 Media Services
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$12,275
6.28 % of overall budget
Elmos
Ethernet cables
Projectors
Licenses for programs added to the campus
Function 13 Staff Development
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$13,800
7.06% of the overall budget
Guest speakers
Technology needed to push out
Paper allotment
Function 23 School Leadership
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$13,000
6.65% of overall budget
AVID training
Capturing kids hearts training
SYOP training
Function 31 Counseling
• $1,500
• 0.77% of the overall budget
• Off campus training
Function 33 Health Services
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1,000
0.51% of the overall budget
Nurse supplies
Pregnancy Pacts
Toiletres for C.A.R.E.S unit
Function 36 Extracurricular
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$16,777
8.59% of overall budget
UIL
SPORTS
ARTS