K-12 School Spending and Performance Review Preliminary Report Joint Legislative Audit & Review Committee September 14, 2005 Stephanie Hoffman and Lisa Jeremiah

JLARC's K-12 School Spending & Performance Review 2 Study Background JLARC initiated this descriptive study of school spending and performance  K-12 receives 42% of state general fund  Schools are point of focus for meeting new accountability standards  State collects spending information at the district- level, but not the school-level Report does not make recommendations

Report pp JLARC's K-12 School Spending & Performance Review 3 Key Findings Districts have similar spending patterns Districts distribute money and track school spending differently Principals generally have limited budget authority Districts and schools are using performance data State collects data on districts and schools but not school-level financial information Changing reporting and budgeting practices has benefits and costs

Report p. 7 JLARC's K-12 School Spending & Performance Review 4 60% of School District Spending Is For Teaching Total: $7.42 Billion for School Year Other 11% ($843 M) Teaching 60% ($4.4B) Food Services 3% ($256 M) Transportation 4% ($292 M) School Administration 6% ($451 M) Central Administration 6% ($434 M) Teaching Support 10% ($757 M)

Report p. 9 JLARC's K-12 School Spending & Performance Review 5 Districts Have Authority in Distributing Resources The state allocation formula “…shall be for state allocation and equalization purposes only and shall not be construed as mandating specific operational functions of local school districts.” - RCW 28A

Report pp JLARC's K-12 School Spending & Performance Review 6 How Districts Distribute Resources to Schools Districts consider similar factors when distributing resources  Most consider school enrollment size  Many also consider grade level, student characteristics, and other factors Districts vary in the processes used to distribute resources (e.g., fixed amount per student, lump sum allocations)

Report pp JLARC's K-12 School Spending & Performance Review 7 Districts Differ in How They Track School Spending Districts not required to code expenditures to schools Many do, but vary in the amount and type of expenditures they code to schools  Case study districts code between 56 to 72 percent of total spending to schools  Full costs of schools rarely tracked to schools in district accounting systems

Report p. 15 JLARC's K-12 School Spending & Performance Review 8 District School Utilities Transportation Food Service Maintenance Staffing Curriculum Professional Development Textbook Replacement Copy Machines Library Books Supplies Centralized District Centralized District Decision-Making Authority

Report p. 15 JLARC's K-12 School Spending & Performance Review District School Utilities Transportation Food Service Maintenance Staffing Curriculum Professional Development Textbook Replacement Copy Machines Library Books Supplies Centralized District Centralized District Site-Based District Site-Based District Decision-Making Authority 8

Report p. 15 JLARC's K-12 School Spending & Performance Review District School Utilities Transportation Food Service Maintenance Staffing Curriculum Professional Development Textbook Replacement Copy Machines Library Books Supplies Centralized District Centralized District Site-Based District Site-Based District Mixed Decision-Making Authority 8

Report pp JLARC's K-12 School Spending & Performance Review Districts and Schools Use Performance Data Districts and schools use performance data to:  Review teaching practices  Review curriculum  Identify students who need extra assistance Use of performance data in decision-making may not be evident by looking at district or school budgets. 9

Report pp JLARC's K-12 School Spending & Performance Review State Collects Many Types of Data Enrollment data Performance data Personnel data Financial data (for districts)  State does not collect financial data for individual schools  School-level spending data would provide new information but comes at a cost 10

Report p. 27 JLARC's K-12 School Spending & Performance Review Benefits of Collecting School- Level Spending Data Would provide a more complete picture of school spending than currently available Would allow for analysis on any potential link between spending and performance Would increase transparency and accountability of K-12 spending 11

Report p. 27 JLARC's K-12 School Spending & Performance Review Challenges to Collecting and Using School Spending Data Challenges to collecting comparable data:  Districts account for school spending in different ways  Allocating shared staff and services may be difficult (e.g., nurses or psychologists) Challenges for state in using data:  Spending data may not answer questions about school performance  Current governance structure grants districts authority in managing school operations 12

Report p JLARC's K-12 School Spending & Performance Review Information Available on Other Ways to Budget and Report School Spending Consultants identified 9 alternative approaches Some have been initiated by states; others have been initiated by school districts Chapter 6 describes alternatives and their applicability to Washington 13

Report p JLARC's K-12 School Spending & Performance Review Conclusion When considering whether to change district reporting and budgeting practices, the Legislature should think about the following:  What is the state’s role in school-level finance?  Will additional financial data answer policymakers’ questions?  What are the costs and benefits of collecting and analyzing additional data? 14

JLARC's K-12 School Spending & Performance Review Next Steps Final report due in October 2005 For more information, contact:  Stephanie Hoffman,  Lisa Jeremiah,