Texas School Finance Reform
Texas School Finance Reform

Author: José Angel Cárdenas

Publisher: Intercultural Development Research Association (Idra)

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 420

ISBN-13:

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A master story-teller, Dr. Jose A. Cardenas, offers us an insider's view of the 28-year history of school finance in Texas. Dr. Cardenas is the founder & director emeritus of IDRA & is the only person who has been actively involved in the entire school finance reform effort since the early days of the RODRIGUEZ VS. SAN ANTONIO ISD litigation when he was superintendent of the Edgewood Independent School District. More than a history, this book provides a blueprint for persons interested in bringing about future reform in schools & other social institutions. Beginning with a description of the Texas system in 1950, the account covers court cases, legislation, & advocacy efforts & concludes with the status & future of school finance reform. Personal vignettes sprinkled throughout offer glimpses of those special untold moments that impacted history. Much of this volume - including the myths of school finance & lessons learned - relate to reform efforts in other states as well. Dr. James A. Kelly, president of the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards, provides a foreword, "Fighting the Good Fight," describing Dr. Cardenas as a trailblazer & pioneer. (ISBN 1-878550-63-2; 1997; 387 pages; hardback) Distributed exclusively by the Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA); 210-684-8180; FAX: 210-684-5389; E-mail: [email protected]; URL: www.idra.org.

Leading Schools Financially
Leading Schools Financially

Author: Thomas J. Dykiel

Publisher: Power Pub

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780978726874

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Leading Schools Financially: A practical anthology to school finance is an anthology about the important and timely issue of money and schools. Virtually everything a school touches is connected to school finance. If the reader is involved in schools, this is a vital informational and resource book. Even those not directly connected with schools have a huge involvement through taxes and the education of our future generation. School finance is not a spectator sport. It requires participatory governance with the involvement of all citizens. Leading Schools Financially informs the reader from the perspective of three school finance practitioners about organizations, budgets, governance, personnel, human relations, facilities, culture, ethical leadership, labor relations, tools of the trade and equity. Don't sit on the sideline. Get involved and learn more about an important component of our nation, state and community that not only educate our children but also consumes approximately 50% of state and local budgets.

Reinventing Public Education
Reinventing Public Education

Author: Paul Hill

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2009-02-15

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 0226336530

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A heated debate is raging over our nation’s public schools and how they should be reformed, with proposals ranging from imposing national standards to replacing public education altogether with a voucher system for private schools. Combining decades of experience in education, the authors propose an innovative approach to solving the problems of our school system and find a middle ground between these extremes. Reinventing Public Education shows how contracting would radically change the way we operate our schools, while keeping them public and accessible to all, and making them better able to meet standards of achievement and equity. Using public funds, local school boards would select private providers to operate individual schools under formal contracts specifying the type and quality of instruction. In a hands-on, concrete fashion, the authors provide a thorough explanation of the pros and cons of school contracting and how it would work in practice. They show how contracting would free local school boards from operating schools so they can focus on improving educational policy; how it would allow parents to choose the best school for their children; and, finally, how it would ensure that schools are held accountable and academic standards are met. While retaining a strong public role in education, contracting enables schools to be more imaginative, adaptable, and suited to the needs of children and families. In presenting an alternative vision for America’s schools, Reinventing Public Education is too important to be ignored.

Funding Public Schools in the United States and Indian Country
Funding Public Schools in the United States and Indian Country

Author: David C. Thompson

Publisher: IAP

Published: 2019-04-01

Total Pages: 829

ISBN-13: 1641136782

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The National Education Finance Academy (NEFA) has completed a project providing a one- of-a-kind practical book on funding P-12 education in the United States. The book, entitled Funding Public Schools in the United States and Indian Country is a single volume with a clear and short chapter about each state. Approximately 50% of chapters are authored by university faculty who are members of NEFA; approximately 25% of chapters are authored by state department of education officials and/or state school board association officials; and the remaining 25% of chapters are authored by ASBO affiliate states. Each chapter contains information about: • Each state’s aid formula background; • Basic support program description and operation (the state aid formula) including how school aid is apportioned (e.g., state appropriations, local tax contributions, cost share ratios, and more); • Supplemental funding options relating to how school districts raise funds attached to or above the regular state aid scheme; • Compensatory programs operated in school districts and how those are funded and aided; • Categorical programs operated in school districts and how those are funded and aided; • Any funding supports for transportation operations; • Any funding supports for physical facilities and operations; and • Other state aids not covered in the above list.

Making Money Matter
Making Money Matter

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 1999-11-30

Total Pages: 368

ISBN-13: 0309172888

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The United States annually spends over $300 billion on public elementary and secondary education. As the nation enters the 21st century, it faces a major challenge: how best to tie this financial investment to the goal of high levels of achievement for all students. In addition, policymakers want assurance that education dollars are being raised and used in the most efficient and effective possible ways. The book covers such topics as: Legal and legislative efforts to reduce spending and achievement gaps. The shift from "equity" to "adequacy" as a new standard for determining fairness in education spending. The debate and the evidence over the productivity of American schools. Strategies for using school finance in support of broader reforms aimed at raising student achievement. This book contains a comprehensive review of the theory and practice of financing public schools by federal, state, and local governments in the United States. It distills the best available knowledge about the fairness and productivity of expenditures on education and assesses options for changing the finance system.

Schoolhouses, Courthouses, and Statehouses
Schoolhouses, Courthouses, and Statehouses

Author: Eric A. Hanushek

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2009-04-27

Total Pages: 432

ISBN-13: 1400830257

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Improving public schools through performance-based funding Spurred by court rulings requiring states to increase public-school funding, the United States now spends more per student on K-12 education than almost any other country. Yet American students still achieve less than their foreign counterparts, their performance has been flat for decades, millions of them are failing, and poor and minority students remain far behind their more advantaged peers. In this book, Eric Hanushek and Alfred Lindseth trace the history of reform efforts and conclude that the principal focus of both courts and legislatures on ever-increasing funding has done little to improve student achievement. Instead, Hanushek and Lindseth propose a new approach: a performance-based system that directly links funding to success in raising student achievement. This system would empower and motivate educators to make better, more cost-effective decisions about how to run their schools, ultimately leading to improved student performance. Hanushek and Lindseth have been important participants in the school funding debate for three decades. Here, they draw on their experience, as well as the best available research and data, to show why improving schools will require overhauling the way financing, incentives, and accountability work in public education.

Equity and Adequacy in Education Finance
Equity and Adequacy in Education Finance

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 1999-02-12

Total Pages: 328

ISBN-13: 0309173957

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Spending on K-12 education across the United States and across local school districts has long been characterized by great disparitiesâ€"disparities that reflect differences in property wealth and tax rates. For more than a quarter-century, reformers have attempted to reduce these differences through court challenges and legislative action. As part of a broad study of education finance, the committee commissioned eight papers examining the history and consequences of school finance reform undertaken in the name of equity and adequacy. This thought-provoking, timely collection of papers explores such topics as: What do the terms "equity" and "adequacy" in school finance really mean? How are these terms relevant to the politics and litigation of school finance reform? What is the impact of court-ordered school finance reform on spending disparities? How do school districts use money from finance reform? What policy options are available to states facing new challenges from court decisions mandating adequacy in school finance? When measuring adequacy, how do you consider differences in student needs and regional costs?