Governance and Finance: Regulating and Funding Schools

Introduction to Educational Governance and Finance Look at each of the following statements and decide if the statement is true or if it’s false. 1.Because each state in our country is unique in different ways, education in each state is also governed in uniquely different ways. 2.The Department of Education, a federal cabinet-level department, headed by the Secretary of Education [such as Arne Duncan in the Obama administration] is the body ultimately responsible for governing education in our country. 3.Historically, the federal government has provided the largest source of funding for education in our country. 4.The majority of the funds allocated to education are spent on administration and support, such as administrators’ salaries and support services, such as busing students to and from school. 5.The amount of money spent per pupil on education is approximately the same in one part of our country compared to other parts. Each of the statements is false. We will see why as we move through the chapter.

The Governance Structure of Education We know these statements are false. Why is this the case? 1. Because each state in our country is unique in different ways, education in each state is also governed in uniquely different ways. 2. The Department of Education, a federal cabinet-level department, headed by the Secretary of Education [such as Arne Duncan in the Obama administration] is the body ultimately responsible for governing education in our country.

The Governance Structure of Education 1. Even though the individual states are responsible for the governance of education, the basic structure in states is similar, i.e., each with a governor, legislature, and other aspects of state government, and the governance of education reflects this similarity. 2. The 10 th amendment to the Constitution states assigns legal responsibility for governance of education to the individual states.

State Administrative Organizational Structure

State Administrative Organizational Structure Cont.

Responsibilities of Your Local School Board Finance: Your board will determine your working conditions, such as class size, as well as salary and benefits, such as health care and retirement. Personnel: Your board will decide which teachers are hired, and who, if necessary, are terminated. Curriculum: Your board is responsible for defining the curriculum, such as ensuring that the standards created at the state level are implemented appropriately. Students: Your board is responsible for establishing standards for students, such as behavior, dress, and whether they can participate in extracurricular activities. Infrastructure: Your board is responsible for creating and maintaining safe physical facilities.

Effective Principals In the superintendent’s view, human or personal characteristics are most significant, such as: Trust. Do teachers trust the principal to follow through on promises and statements? Commitment. Do teachers believe the principal is committed to students and their learning [as opposed to simply fulfilling the requirements of a job]? Leadership. Is the principal someone teachers want to follow? In addition, the superintendent believed that the principal must have management skills, such as the ability to manage the budget, ensure that buses run on time, and other routine operations of the school.

Discussion Questions

1. Should legislation be passed to make local school boards mirror the populations they serve? For example, if 25 percent of the population is Hispanic, should one fourth of the school board be Hispanic? What advantages and disadvantages are there to this approach to equitable representation? What other alternatives might be better?

Discussion Questions Ordinarily, teachers can’t be school board members in their own districts because of potential conflicts of interest. Would teachers make good school board members in districts where they live but don’t teach? Should a certain number or percentage of school board positions be reserved for teachers? Why or why not?

Discussion Questions Should the percentages of male and female principals reflect the gender composition of the teachers at the school level in which the principals work? Why or why not?

Discussion Questions Should school districts in a state be funded equally? What are the advantages and disadvantages to this approach? Should every school district in the nation receive equal funds? What are the advantages and disadvantages to this approach?

Discussion Questions What are the advantages and disadvantages of pay-to-play policies in schools? What kind of students do these policies affect the most? What could you do if you taught in a school where these policies were limiting the participation of low-income students?

Discussion Questions How important are teacher salaries to their job satisfaction? How or why do teacher salaries influence teacher job satisfaction? What other factors also influence teachers’ job satisfaction?

Federal, State, and Local Funding of Education

Educational Expenditures

School Funding and School Environments Serena Williams walks into Jeb Stuart Middle School among a crowd of other students. The hall needs a paint job, but she doesn’t really notice, because it seems like it’s always been that way. She enters her homeroom, squeezing between the rows of desks, because she has 35 classmates, most of whom are either African American or Hispanic, and the room was built for 28. Students are talking as the bell rings, and Mr. Davidson, her homeroom teacher is cleaning the boards, because they hadn’t been cleaned overnight. He is struggling, because he has had little professional training, and he is doing his best to get through each day. What conclusions can we make about Jeb Stuart Middle School, the families the school serves, and how this influences school funding?  First, Jeb Stuart is probably an urban school. The fact that it’s overcrowded, most of the students are members of cultural minorities, and Mr. Davidson is inexperienced and under-prepared are characteristics of urban schools.  Many of the families the school serves are probably from lower socioeconomic classes.  As a result of low socioeconomic status, the property tax revenue that supports the school is probably significantly lower than the revenue that supports, for example, suburban schools.  The lack of funding means the school will lack the resources to support teaching and learning at a level that is most effective.

Privatization and Commercialization of Schools You’re walking down one of the corridors of your school, and you see several vending machines in an alcove. Some hold soft drinks and others are filled with snacks. Why are they there? An important issues exists with respect to these machines. What is it?  Making money is the obvious reason the machines are there. They make money for the venders, such as Coke or Pepsi, but they also make money for the school.  The issue isn’t as simple as it appears on the surface. On one hand, the machines are factors in what is commonly described as the “obesity epidemic” in our country. Many too many of our young people are overweight, and they’re already beginning to show negative symptoms, such as the beginnings of heart disease, associated with this excess weight.  On the other hand, schools are cash strapped. They need the revenue—desperately in some cases—and removing the machines eliminates one revenue source.