Presidential Essay
Deborah H. 坎宁安
New York State Association of
School Business Officials
Albany, 纽约 12207
dcunningham@nysasbo.org
SCHOOL FINANCE AND LEARNING:
ARE WE LEVERAGING STATE AID
TO GET ALL WE CAN OUT OF IT?
After spending some twenty-five years working on
school finance for the New York State Education Depart-
蒙特, I had the opportunity to work on education reform
for the State of Nevada. As Deputy Superintendent for
Business and Support Services, I oversaw state aid to
school districts, 信息技术, audit services,
and child nutrition. I also served as Education Depart-
ment liaison to the 77th session of the Nevada Legisla-
真实. Although my sojourn in Nevada, lasting little more
than a year, was brief compared with my work in New
约克, the experience gave me perspective on how two
states were implementing school finance and reform.
Recent reforms in both states were driven in large
part by the federal Race to the Top competition, 但
the approaches to reform were quite different. Key fea-
tures of the education environment in Nevada—basic
student services and a strong inclination against raising
taxes—worked to keep school spending low, the sixth
lowest school spending in the nation at $8,419 per pupil. New York State, 相比之下, is a large-enrollment, 高的- spending, and high-taxing state. 最后, spend- ing per pupil on education is among the highest in the nation, 在 $16,239 per pupil.1 In 2011, the state reached
the breaking point, 然而, and enacted laws to limit
growth into the future for education revenues raised
from the property tax and distributed as state aid to
school districts.
1. Per pupil expenditures for Nevada and New York are adjusted for regional cost differences (2010).
See Education Week’s Quality Counts report at www.edweek.org/ew/toc/2013/01/10/index.html.
土井:10.1162/EDFP_a_0126
© 2014 Association for Education Finance and Policy
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SCHOOL FINANCE AND LEARNING
It should be noted that educators in both states are working hard to improve
教育. In New York, they don’t intentionally work to spend more and
people in Nevada don’t feel like they are working to spend less, but the contrast
is remarkable. The contrast is of a culture of spending a lot and a culture of
spending modestly. It is hard to put into words but it is a dramatic difference.
Perhaps it would be like being in a wealthy versus a poor family. What each
family does is taken for granted by the members but for someone who goes
from one to the other the distinction is powerful.
In reflecting on the two states, one at the bottom of the nation’s school
spending and the other at the top, I asked myself: What was missing? What was
missing in both states, and perhaps many others, is a focus on total school
spending to increase student learning. Rather than focusing on whether states
spend a lot or a little, shouldn’t they be focused on making sure that every dollar
adds to the goals of the enterprise: To produce young people who have a good
chance of being successful in college and careers?
Why is this important? Globalization makes it crucial in two ways (Blinder
2013; Glassman 2013). Global markets affect our market economy, as seen
in the recent global hiccup that occurred when European markets faltered
(Glassman 2013). And although economists predict a restoration of jobs to
prior levels (Glassman 2013), the United States faces a serious job crisis. 高的
school and college graduates are not prepared for many highly technical jobs
and machines are increasingly doing jobs that in the past were done by low-
wage workers. American businesses have turned to other countries to fill the
工作. Some have estimated that we are educating up to 70 percent of our young
people to a level that does not allow them to be self-sufficient, a number that
is increasing at a rate of 1 percent a year (Daggett 2013). Thirty percent do not
graduate from high school, 28 percent fail a basic literacy test required for
entrance in the military, 和另一个 12 percent are not eligible for the military
as a result of obesity, 药物, or incarceration (Daggett 2013). Our markets are
connected globally and our students are competing globally for jobs. It is time
for elementary and secondary education to prepare young people for the jobs
businesses need to fill, and this means making some dramatic changes.
I mentioned both Nevada and New York were working on Race to the Top
改革. New York received a $700 million grant and Nevada applied for but
did not receive a grant. Despite this, both states have adopted the Common
Core State Learning Standards and are participating in consortia to align their
state testing to these standards. They are both working on developing their
state longitudinal data systems, and are developing (Nevada) and implement-
英 (纽约) a system of teacher and leader evaluation and support. 为什么
would two states that are so different be working on the same education re-
形式? Because of the powerful impact of the federal Race to the Top program,
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Deborah H. 坎宁安
a program developed in response to research showing (1) that teachers matter
and differ substantially from one another in ways not recognized by existing
licensure and pay systems, 和 (2) that teacher performance evaluation sys-
tems appear to be broken. 实际上, forty-six states have adopted the Common
Core State Standards and numerous states are engaged in related reforms.
The Race to the Top grant in New York is a little more than 3 的百分比
state education revenues. 然而, it leveraged a flurry of education reforms in
New York State and in Nevada, which did not even get a grant. Are we missing
out on the potential of resources to motivate positive change for students and
society by not better leveraging state aid to school districts? Are we leveraging
the money to get all we can get from it?
How states can motivate positive changes in student learning has, 当然,
garnered much attention. Much of this was the subject of an Education Fi-
nance Research Consortium symposium sponsored by the New York State
Education Department and Board of Regents on School Finance and Organi-
zational Change. Although this work predates recent federal initiatives such as
Race to the Top, many of those concepts help to frame the discussion. Wyckoff
and Naples (2000) describe four ways state policy makers can influence the
organization and outcomes of the entities they oversee: contracting, monitor-
英, reputation, and organizational change. State learning standards that are
high and aligned to success in college and careers serve to establish formal
or informal contracts between the state and school districts and as such are a
critical tool in this process.
State school aid is a second potentially powerful tool, crucial to achieving
标准. Wyckoff and Naples (2000, p. 307) sum it up:
State aid can generally be employed to insure districts have the re-
sources to potentially meet the standards, and also to provide incentives
toward the standard. Equity demands that districts be provided with
sufficient resources such that if the resources are effectively employed,
students could be educated to meet the learning standard. 这需要
an ability to deploy resources to best enhance student learning and an
ability to differentiate among the circumstances of districts (needs and
ability to pay) in the distribution of aid. State aid can also be used to
reward success and/or punish failure in meeting the goals. Care needs
to be taken when financially punishing districts for weak performance.
In the excitement of implementing Race to the Top, much research presented
at the annual conference of the Association of Education Finance and Policy
(AEFP) has focused on aspects related to specific areas of change such as
teacher compensation and evaluation, school turnaround (and choice), 学校
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SCHOOL FINANCE AND LEARNING
accountability, and the progress states are making in implementing Race to
the Top reforms. This has been relevant and timely because many of the Race
to the Top reforms have been controversial and threatened the status quo,
thus providing grist for analysis, 讨论, and debate. But let’s step back a
moment and look at the bigger picture. If three cents on the education dollar
can motivate so much activity, is it not time to look at the other 97 cents? 什么
would this look like? Can incentives be incorporated in the distribution of state
funding that motivate school districts to improve education?
第一的, connecting aid to student outcomes is an initial critical step in know-
ing how much money is needed and in beginning to create incentives to use
the money more productively. New York’s Foundation Aid formula enacted
在 2007 (which was then defunded during the economic recession) was a
case in point. The foundation amount, one of four moving parts in the for-
mula, was based on a cost study of expenditures for meeting state learning
standards in successful school districts. With New York leading the nation
in economic recovery as measured by job growth (Glassman 2013), 国家
needs to fully fund the foundation formula and preserve the important link to
student learning standards.
第二, the basic funding formula should include key features to ensure
the sufficiency and equity of state aid. 这些包括:
•
•
•
•
•
A cost study such as mentioned above should be conducted at regular
intervals and used to determine state aid. In between studies, states should
increase basic funding by at least the increase in the cost of living.
States should adjust basic funding by student need—including
贫困, limited English proficiency, geographic sparsity and disability
status—such that school districts have the resources to give all students
the extra time and help they need to meet state learning standards.
States should adjust funding for the ability of the school district to raise
revenues locally and for regional cost differences, or the relative ability of
the district to attract qualified teaching candidates.
Save-harmless provisions should protect school districts against loss but
care should be taken to limit this aid so as to not divert too much aid
toward loss rather than student need.
States should enact two-year budgets to help school districts predict their
aid and sustain multiyear educational programs.
第三, rewards for success should be explored as incentives for increased
student learning. Progress should be obtainable and take into account stu-
dent need so as not to disadvantage school districts serving concentrations of
students in poverty. The goal is to be able to reward success in every type of
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Deborah H. 坎宁安
district and to not reward districts that do not change or fail. Issues include
determining the amount of basic aid and the reward. Should the amount
of basic aid be the minimum amount of aid necessary to meet state con-
stitutional entitlements? The size of the reward is important too but as we
have seen with Race to the Top, even small rewards (3 到 10 percent of basic
援助) can be motivating. 此外, states need to pick carefully outcomes
and targets that are used to determine whether a district has improved or
不是.
第四, what strings should be placed on the reward? Should the prize
be additional unrestricted operating aid, or should there be conditions, 作为
with grants? Or should there be an unrestricted reward along with grants for
specific purposes, such as management efficiency, early learning programs,
or school–college collaboration? A state would set aside a pool of money for
school districts that improve, as measured by specific learning targets, 这样的
as making annual yearly progress in reading and math for all student sub-
团体. Any district that improves would get additional funds. The funds
can be awarded unconditionally or conditionally. Unconditionally could mean
for any education purpose including tax relief. Conditionally could mean to
invest in a specific program that the state could specify (management ef-
ficiency, early learning programs, and school–college collaboration are ex-
阿普莱斯). The district would only get the funds if the money was spent as
prescribed.
第五, what planning should be required to introduce and implement such
a system? It may be important to allow the field time—say, two to five years—to
align curriculum and supports with the measures and targets the state intends
to use. 此外, school districts need to see that resources and meeting stan-
dards go hand in hand, and should be required to prepare and make available
to the public five-year, long-range financial plans that lay out the targets and
specific instructional areas (including student achievement goals) the district
is working to strengthen. Strategic school district teams including instruc-
的, financial, and information technology leadership should collaborate to
prepare the plans. Extensive community involvement and participation will be
necessary to ensure parents and businesses understand and support what the
district is trying to accomplish.
Sixth, cautions are always to be heeded. States need to carefully monitor
and adjust requirements for rewards so that school districts are not working
on impossible tasks, such as the unrealistic targets of the original No Child
Left Behind Act.
Seventh, research needs to continue to develop the basis for measuring
educational productivity. School districts can engage in their own research by
sharing data on their use of resources and student outcomes compared with
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SCHOOL FINANCE AND LEARNING
groups of similar districts.2 In addition, school districts can make important
strides forward by developing the school leadership team to build budgets that
focus resources on improving student achievement and realizing efficiencies
in school operation (see Odden 2012 for strategies and guidance on resource
reallocation).
Researchers from institutions of higher education and research organiza-
tions can validate measures of educational productivity and assess the value
added of different approaches to increase productivity. 例如,
• Dramatically improving preparatory programs that select, prepare, 和
train school teachers and administrators;
• Measuring the value added that teachers bring to student learning and
the impact of accountability systems that have consequences for teacher
表现;
Improving connections between high school and college;
•
• Strengthening curriculum and assessment in reading and mathematics
(the “Common Core”) and student preparation in science, 技术,
and engineering in preparation for jobs the United States is currently
outsourcing to other countries;
• Strengthening early childhood education to engage students early in the
process of meeting higher standards;
• Strengthening the use of data in support of student achievement growth
and resolving issues related to the protection of individual privacy; 和
• Understanding where computer-assisted instructional programs can add
to student learning and contain costs.
Research can also assess the adequacy of school finance formulas and sys-
tems to maximize states’ return on investment of their tax dollars supporting
教育.
在 1984, A Nation at Risk was published and shocked educators and the
public alike to think that the United States had somehow failed in elementary
and secondary education. Thirty years later, we know so much more and have
benefited from a dramatic increase in the capacity to measure and share infor-
运动, but we are arguably not much further along than we were back in 1984
in terms of meeting the nation’s education goals. The world has changed dra-
matically and education has made only incremental improvements. A system
that fails 70 percent of its young people in 2013 (和 80 百分比在 2023?) 是
2. They may be aided in this task by using tools such as Forecast 5 and Cornell University’s
Budget Playground. (See www.forecast5analytics.com and www.nyruralschools.org/w/data-tools/
budget-playground/#.Up88p6U8Z-c for more information.)
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Deborah H. 坎宁安
not a pathway to prosperity. It is time for states to look seriously at the potential
of incentives tied to basic school aid which they provide to school districts, 和
create a culture that embraces a strategic approach to using every education
dollar. The AEFP membership, consisting of researchers, practitioners, 和
policy makers, can facilitate this process through quality research, 分析, 和
informed debates that raise awareness and develop methods and measures to
help states implement reforms and understand the cost of inaction.
参考
Blinder, Alan S. 2013. After the music stopped: The financial crisis, the response, 和
work ahead. 纽约: Penguin Press.
Daggett, William R. 2013. Leading change during challenging times. Keynote address
presented at the 9th Annual Conference of the New York State School Boards Associa-
的, 罗切斯特, 纽约, 十月.
Glassman, James. 2013. Economic outlook: Global renewal spreads. Paper presented
for a Webinar sponsored by New York State Association of School Business Officials,
15 十一月.
Odden, Allan R. 2012. Improving student achievement when budgets are tight. Thousand
Oaks, CA: Corwin.
Wyckoff, James H., and Michelle Naples. 2000. Educational finance to support high
learning standards: A synthesis. Economics of Education Review 19(4): 305–318. 土井:
10.1016/S0272-7757(00)00005-4
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