EDU 224 Foundations of Teaching and Learning

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Money and SchoolsEDU 224 Newberry College
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Money and Schools

• Why is money important?
• What are the three main three trends in
  educational finance? What do they mean?
• How is education in South Carolina funded?

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Why should teachers worry about money?
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History has determined that American schools are
funded through property taxes.

• Old Deluder Satan Law (1647, MA)
• The Northwest Ordinance of 1787
• The Land Ordinance of 1875
• 1874 Kalamazoo Michigan case (MI)

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Trends in educational finance

• Equity
• Adequacy
• Productivity

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Trend 1 Equity
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Equity

• Focus on US Constitution 14th
  Amendment (equal protection of the law)
• Plessey v. Fergusson (1896)
• Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)
• San Antonio Independent School District v.
  Rodriguez (1973)
• Focus on funding inter-district equity through
  state constitutions
• Serrano v. Priest (CA, 1971)
• Robinson v. Cahill (NJ, 1973)
• Edgewood v. Kirby (TX, 1989)

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Trend 2 Adequacy
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Adequacy

• Despite equalized funding, disparities remained,
  so some poorer NJ school districts sued.
• Abbott v. Burke (NJ, 1985)
• NJ Supreme Court ruled that a thorough and
  efficient education required setting of state
  curriculum standards, achievement outcomes, and
  application of particular school reform models
  for lowest performing schools
• This case led to the birth of a funding adequacy
  argument and court-ordered school improvement.

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Trend 3 Productivity
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Productivity

• After Abbott v. Burke, poorer NJ school districts
  (known as the Abbott districts) received higher
  levels of funding than other, more prosperous NJ
  school districts. Did increased funding in the
  Abbott school districts make a difference?
• At the elementary school level there has been
  some improvement
• At the middle and high school levels student
  achievement has not improved
• In a recent South Carolina case involving
  Abbeville, elementary, middle, and high school
  funding was found to have a negligible effect on
  student achievement.

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(No Transcript)
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The Public Education Dollar Where the Money
Comes From
Sadker Zittleman, p. 218 (citing US Census
Bureau, April 2008)
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In SC, where does school money come from?
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How equal are schools?Average Per-Pupil
Expenditures

• Who spends the most?
• NJ NY 14,500
• Who spends the least?
• UT lt ,5000
• Average 9,138
• SC 8,001 - 8,500

Sadker Zittleman, p. 224 (citing US Census
Bureau, April 2007)
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Federal Role

• Civil Rights
• US Department of Education (est. 1979)
• Funding (Legislation/Control through funding)
• Categorical or block grants
• Unrestricted or restricted grants
• Examples
• 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act
  (ESEA)
• 2001 reauthorized as No Child Left Behind

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What does all this mean for you?

• Accountability will not go away.
• Competition will increase.
• Choice programs, charter schools, and for-profit
  schools will multiply.
• School budgets will continue to be tight.
• Local schools and districts will seek alternate
  funding.

What do you need to do?
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