Finance in Eduation Chapter 4

Full State Funding Three different degrees of state participation are possible for financing and operating public schools: 1. State operation – substantial reductions in the administrative and operational responsibilities of local boards. 2. Complete state operation – elimination of locally raised funds but with state basic programs increased to adequate levels 3. Foundational program - state funds added to local tax funds to produce a state-guaranteed level of school support

Ramifications of State Funding Concerns are: The increase in state control of local schools and a corresponding decrease in the power and authority of local school boards. The state would exercise the power to determine the amount of revenue in every district with little regard for the educational needs or desires of the local citizenry. There is no way to determine which districts should be given the funds necessary to explore innovative practices or encouraged to become exemplary.

District Power Equalization An alternative to full state funding is district power equalization (DPE). Provides a poor school district with the power to obtain as much revenue per student as more wealthy districts. Each local district mill levy should produce the same number of dollars of total school revenue per mill per weighted student in every disctrict.

Determining the Best Finance Plan There are no perfect systems for distributing state funds to local school districts. Each plan has limitations and falls short of equalizing financial resources to the complete satisfaction of all the people concerned. Some school systems are better than others and some states make greater efforts to improve than others.

Determining the Best Finance Plan It is safe to assume that school financing plans of the future will emphasize greater state involvement and proportionately less local responsibility. Since the property tax is the realistic source of local revenue, it is evident that state tax sources will have to be increased to meet the surging costs of education. Sales tax and income tax are used mostly by the state government. These taxes are probably going to increase in order to finance the high-quality education programs that nearly all citizens demand.

Principal Types of Weightings In any consideration of the number of pupils as a determinant of the money needs of a district, several important weightings could be considered: (1) the sparsity or isolation of pupils in rural areas, (2) the density of pupils in heavily populated metropolitan areas, (3) the grade levels of pupils, and (4) the degree of disadvantage certain classes of pupils may suffer, such as those who require special education services.

Principal Types of Weightings Consideration should also be given to the training and experience of the professional staff members of each district. To consider all pupils to be of equal worth or cost is no more erroneous than to consider all teachers to be of equal worth or cost to a school system.

Miscellaneous Weighting Factors Many other weighting factors can reasonably be expected in state foundation programs. Notable examples include provisions of funds for transportation, administrative and other professional nonteachng personnel, and capital outlay or debt service.