Educators Propose Student-Based Budgeting (LA)
November 4, 2010
Sweeping changes in the way public schools are funded can pave the way for improved student achievement, educators told a state panel Wednesday.
The issue surfaced during the second meeting on whether Louisiana should overhaul the way it finances about 1,300 public schools attended by about 665,000 students.
A key feature of the new plan, called student-based budgeting, would give school principals authority on how to spend most state, federal and local education dollars.
Under current rules, the state allocates $3.3 billion to 70 school districts, which then allocate the dollars on the basis of staffing levels, programs and other factors.
Moving to a more locally based system to fund schools was a “strong enabler” for the Oakland Unified School District to make major gains in classroom performance, said Jason Willis, former budget director for the California district.
Lisa Snell, director of education and child welfare for the pro-libertarian Reason Foundation in Los Angeles, said direct links between new funding methods and better test scores are hard to establish amid a wide array of school improvement steps.
But Snell said public schools in Oakland and Baltimore are among those that have implemented such changes and seen improvements.
“We do have anecdotal evidence from these districts that they are all moving in the right direction,” Snell said.
Any task force recommendations on school funding would go to the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, or BESE, for a final decision.
BESE president Penny Dastugue, who is chairwoman of the panel, said the funding change was suggested by a streamlining commission last year as a way to get more money into classrooms and improve student test scores.
“This is about looking at possible opportunities,” said Dastugue.
However, one superintendent questioned the value for Louisiana of funding changes made in large urban school districts.
The schools highlighted on Wednesday that have undergone funding changes include 38,000 students and 110 schools in Oakland; 65,000 students and 73 schools in Los Angeles and 1.1 million students and 1,700 public schools in New York City.
Jefferson Davis Parish Superintendent David Clayton said Louisiana has about eight urban school districts.
“The rest of us, at least 60, are small,” Clayton told the panel. “That is the frustration for most of the superintendents.”
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Clayton said his own district has about 5,600 students.
The funding change would require school districts to send dollars directly to schools to let the money follow students.
Principals and other local officials would then make most of the decisions on how the money is spent.
In New York City public schools, local officials control funding for staff, technology, supplies and professional development, said Hannah Dietsch, former senior director for the New York City Department of Education.
“Schools make their own budgets,” she told the task force.
Dietsch said the central office retains control over food, transportation, special education and other costs.