School
Funding and Finance
Websites
The
Funding Gap 2005: Low Income and Minority Students Short-Changed
by Most States -- the most recent annual report by the Education
Trust on the issue of school funding inequalities.
The
Funding Gap 2004: Many States Still Shortchange Low-Income and
Minority Students -- 2004 research by the Education Trust
about inequalities in school funding.
What
Research Says About Unequal Funding for Schools in America
-- an excellent research synthesis by Bruce Biddle and David Berliner,
2003.
School
Finance: Coverage in Education Week -- a good overview and
lots of links and current and past articles.
Aid
Disparities in Needy Schools Seen as Rising -- a 2004 report
about how the gap in school funding between wealthy and poor districts
is growing in most states.
Education
Finance Statistics Center -- national statistics for the U.S.,
by state, at the National Center for Education Statistics.
"Savage
Inequalities" Revisited -- an article relating the 2002
study, "The Funding Gap," by the Education Trust, to
Jonathan Kozol's 1990 research and book, "Savage Inequalities."
The
Return to Separate and Unequal: Metropolitan Milwaukee School
Funding Through a Racial Lens. -- the full report available
online -- includes documentation of how Milwaukee's school funding
has fallen further and further below the state average as the
percentage of students of color served by the district has increased.
The
Return to Separate and Unequal
-- an article about funding inequalities and related racial discrimination
in Wisconsin and Milwaukee.
Money
Makes a Difference
-- a recent research report from a federal educational research
organization.
Investing
in Learning: School Funding Policies to Foster High Performance
-- a report by the Committee for Economic Development, that as
education policies focus more forcefully on student achievement,
policymakers need to overhaul 20th-century school finances in
ways that support and encourage learning.
Court
Orders New York City Funding Shift -- an article about a precedent-setting
ruling in July, 2003, that directs the New York State legislature
to reform how it finances education -- the case acknowledges inequalities
that negatively affect New York City schools and students, and
it has implications beyond New York State.
Public
School Review -- a site with information, including per-pupil
expenditure rates, for almost every public school in the country.
The
Alliance for Quality Education -- an activist group in New
York State working to achieve equality in education funding in
New York -- they provide lots of useful data and ideas for reform,
for New York State.
The
Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE) -- The organization leading
the legal battle for school funding reform in New York State.
The
Educational Priorities Panel (EPP) -- an organization dedicated
to improving "the quality of public education for New York
City's children, so there is no longer a performance gap between
city schools and those in the rest of the state -- this site has
useful data and information related to the pursuit of school funding
reform.
The
Midstate Finance Consortium -- an organization dedicated to
acheiving school funding reform in New York State.
21st
Century School Finance: How Is the Context Changing?-- a good
article about current changes relevant to the school funding issue.
School
Finance Litigation -- key court cases by state, year, and
status, 1970-1999.
Financing
Schools. -- an entire Issue of The Future of Children,
7(3), 1997, Winter, devoted to the issue of school funding inequalities
and solutions -- many excellent articles -- published by the Center
for the Future of Children, The David and Lucille Packard
Foundation.
Financing
Schools: Analysis and Recommendations -- an excellent overview
article from 1997.
Understanding
the Impact of the School Funding Gap -- a 2002 case study
in Illinois.
Redesigning
School Finance
-- information regarding possible funding reforms.
School
Funding Equity -- a site with lots of good articles and information.
Texas
School Finance Disparities -- an article about a 1998 report
in Texas.
Fair
Funding for Texas School
Children
-- a 2003 essay about attempts to address funding inequalities
in Texas -- some progress has been made, but significant inequalities
remain.
Public
Elementary-Secondary Education Finance Data
-- government financial data including revenues, expenditures,
debt, and assets of elementary and secondary public school systems.
The
SAGE Program -- The Student Achievement Guarantee in Education
(SAGE) program has been proven to improve student achievement
in schools serving low-income communities. It does this through
solid funding of schools, a reduction in class size, longer school
hours, collaboration with community organizatins, rigorous curriculum
and high standards for teachers. When compared with the use of
vouchers, this program produces higher levels of achievement through
funding and school reform than does school choice.
Reconsidering
No Child Left Behind -- A news radio program about how some
school officials, especially in rural areas, say the federal mandate
is inflexible and their school systems cannot meet the demands.
Several states are considering opting out of federal funds just
to escape the federal mandate. Includes lots of links to related
stories and issues.
Some
Good Books and Articles
Biddle,
B. 1997. Foolishness, Dangerous Nonsense, and Real Correlates
of State Differences in Achievement. Phi Delta Kappan,
79(1): 8-13.
Biddle, B.
& Berliner, D. 2002. Small Class Sizes and Its Effects. Educational
Leadership, 59(5): 12-23.
Biddle, B.
& Berliner, D. 2002. Unequal School Funding in the United States.
Educational Leadership, 59(8), 48-59.
Elliot, M.
1998. School Finance and Opportunity to Learn: Does Money Well
Spent Enhance Students' Achievement? Sociology of Education,
71(3): 223-245.
Firestone,
W. 1997. From Cashbox to Classroom. Teachers College Press.
Greenwald,
R. Hedges, L. & Laine, R. 1996. The Effect of School Expenditures
on School Achievement. Review of Educational Research,
66(3): 361-396.
Karp,
S. et al., 1997. Funding for Justice: Money, Equity and the
Future of Public Education. Rethinking Schools.
Kozol, J.
1991. Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools.
Harper.
Kozol, J.
2005. The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid
Schooling in the America. Crown.
Monk, D. &
Brent, B. 1997. Raising Money for Education: A Guide to Property
Tax. Corwin Press.
Payne, K.
& Biddle, B. 1999. Poor School Funding, Child Poverty, and Mathematics
Achievement. Educational Researcher, 28(6): 4-13.
Slavin, R.
1999. How Can Funding Equity Ensure Enhanced Achievement? Journal
of Education Finance, 24(4): 519-528.
Wenglinsky,
H. 1997. How Money Matters: The Effect of School District Spending
on Academic Achievement. Sociology of Education, 70(3):
221-237.
Some
Good Videos
Children in America's Schools.
1997 -- a powerful documentary about school funding inequalities
and their consequences, in Ohio.
Upstairs,
Downstairs. 1989 -- a documentary about school funding inequalities
in New Jersey and Kentucky.