School Finance

Since the first modern school choice laws were passed in the early 1990s,
access to educational options has grown tremendously. Today, more than
6,900 charter schools exist in the 44 states and the District of Columbia which
have charter school laws. These schools enroll more than 3.1 million children.
During the same time period, prevalence of private school choice programs
has grown dramatically with nearly 50 different programs in existence. Many
have sought to examine the impacts of school choice programs on students.
Indeed, there is a vigorous debate in the literature on this matter. This paper
explores this issue from a different angle—school finance. The design of
school choice programs, specifically how they are funded, has important
implications for the legality of a program and with issues related to equity.
These matters are incredibly important as states continually grapple with
questions related to adequacy and equity in school finance. As school choice
programs continue to expand, they offer an opportunity not just to expand
educational options, as proponents suggest, but to improve how we fund
education for all students. This paper explores the issues related to school
finance and school choice litigation, then offers a school choice model that
might be used to increase equity in finance and in educational options.

Revenue and spending for special education in the Lawrence Union Free School District is analyzed. Furthermore, the number and categories of students in outside placement is estimated as the school district would not release information. Subsequently, I present a scenario where all students in special education - that are presently in outside placements – are brought back into the district with an illustration of the programs and staffing that would be necessary to accommodate them. I offer a side-by-side analysis showing the comparative costs of educating those students inside and out of the district.

In this article, Alemán examines how Mexican American district leaders conceptualize and argue for a more equitable system of school finance. The superintendents studied are politically active educational leaders who participate in the school finance debate while advocating for their Mexican American constituency. The author addresses the nature of the superintendents' policy and political discourse and their conceptualizations of race and racism in their political strategy. In these analyses, the author uses a Critical Race Theory (CRT) framework and argues for a more critical debate of the inherent institutional racism at the foundation of Texas school finance policy.

The study aims to assess the budgetary controls towards quality service delivery among Catholic Higher Educational Institutions (CHEIs). The descriptive cross-sectional designs was used. The four CHEIs participated in the study. Budgetary controls were measured by budgeting and planning, monitoring and control and analyzing and feedback; while service delivery was measured in terms of infrastructure development, services and expenditure-related activities. Data collected were analyzed using SPSS 20. Programs and plans are the basis for allocation of financial resources with clear targets indicating budget outcome goals and objectives. Budget review permits continuous assessment of budget variances in terms of actual against the budgeted. Some schools have slightly negative perceptions of about monitoring and control being implemented in the institutions. Results on analyzing and feedback divulged significant responses among CHEIs. There is significant positive perceptions about the financial performance. There is appropriation of funds to achieve performance goals. However, some schools do not receive all the tuition fees as budgeted for. Income generating projects undertaken by some institutions are limited. The expenditure on infrastructure development is moderately adequate. Budgeting and planning, monitoring and control, analyzing and feedback were significant predictors of perceived financial performance. Salaries of administrators, faculty and staff, institutional benefits, educational revenue and expenses, physical plant, facilities and equipment are in varying degree of adequacy. There are significant variations on budgeting and planning, monitoring and control, analyzing and feedback, service delivery, and expenditure activities. There are no significant variations on the perceived financial performance relative to infrastructure development across CHEIs. Empirical results show that budgetary feedback information would have effects of supervision, control, and encouragement on budgeting managers or finance officers. It implies further that smooth implementation of budgets, budgetary planning and control need to be done properly towards quality service delivery.

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to investigate the impact of New Jersey’s permanent Interdistrict School Choice Program relative to equity as perceived by participating school superintendents. This researcher measured the impact of New Jersey’s Interdistrict School Choice program utilizing quantitative and qualitative data collected via a web-based survey instrument, the New Jersey Interdistrict School Choice Perception of Equity Inventory. In this approach, data from Likert questions and open-ended responses were used to evaluate superintendent’s perceptions based upon the independent variables of district socioeconomic status, district geographic classification and district enrollment dynamic. A triangulation design mixed methodology was employed to converge both the quantitative data and qualitative data for analysis. The quantitative survey data was utilized to compute inventory scores for each participant that were disaggregated based upon the independent variables. This researcher subsequently conducted ANOVA tests to determine if there were significant differences in the superintendents’ perceptions of the impact of the Interdistrict School Choice Program. The qualitative data, generated from the survey open-ended responses was pattern coded and analyzed for frequency. Finally, this researcher validated and interpreted the combined quantitative and qualitative results. The results of the study were that 71 participating superintendents held overall positive perceptions of the impact of the New Jersey Interdistrict School Choice program relative to equity. There were no significant differences in the perceptions of participating superintendents based on district socioeconomic status, district geographic classification and district enrollment dynamic.

There is a general consensus that school financing has to provide the necessary resources for the schools to function properly. There is a need therefore to understand what makes school finance work.. The purpose of this paper is to provide a narrative of the school finance system and how it works in primary and secondary education in Bangladesh. It is based on secondary as well as some primary data. Secondary data include academic literature; policy and evaluation documents; and reports and publications by government, UN agencies, NGOs, and donor and international/regional development agencies. Interviews of a limited numbers of stakeholders in the primary and secondary sub-sectors were conducted. The findings suggest that the primary and secondary school sub-systems have their own unique modalities of financing and therefore have their own opportunities and challenges. While the primary education system is highly centralized and government controlled, at the secondary level financing is influenced by the interplay between the state and community. There are serious deficiencies in respect of adequacy, access and efficiency at both levels. In addition to increased funding, a more decentralized and responsive system needs to be constructed through appropriate resourcing and capacity-building.

This paper analyzes and discusses the current budget practice of Yeshiva Day Schools in the United States, based on both review of current financial practices within such schools, including but not limited to, budget development, generation of school revenue, and current average actual instructional expense, AIE, and breakdown of expenditures including extracurricular activities. This is done through analysis of the current practices in Jewish Ultra-Orthodox schools nationwide as well as three school within the five towns community of Nassau County, New York, through the usage of several articles on practices within the Yeshiva Day School including two articles by Yisorel Besser in Mishpacha magazine (Besser, 2014; Besser, 2016), a Jewish Ultra-Orthodox magazine popular within the Jewish Ultra-Orthodox in the United States and across the globe (Goldman, 2015). And peer reviewed research on the topic by Dr. Marvin Shick for the Avi Chai Foundation (Schick, 2007; Shick, 2009; Schick, 2014). In conclusion, I offer some of my own insights into the current practices and how I feel they can be improved in the future in order to facilitate further involvement of additional stakeholders in the process.

This report for the Czech Republic forms part of the OECD Review of Policies to Improve the Effectiveness of Resource Use in Schools (also referred to as the School Resources Review, see Annex A for further details). The purpose of the review is to explore how school resources can be governed, distributed, utilised and managed to improve the quality, equity and efficiency of school education. School resources are understood in a broad way, including financial resources (e.g. expenditures on education, school budget), physical resources (e.g. school infrastructure, computers), human resources (e.g. teachers, school leaders) and other resources (e.g. learning time).

The Czech Republic was one of the countries which opted to participate in the country review strand and host a visit by an external review team. Members of the OECD review team were Claire Shewbridge (OECD Secretariat), co-ordinator of the review; Jan Herczyński (consultant on
funding mechanisms), Thomas Radinger (OECD Secretariat) and Julie Sonnemann (consultant on teaching workforce development). The biographies of the members of the review team are provided in Annex B. This publication is the report from the review team. It provides, from an international perspective, an independent analysis of major issues facing the use of school resources in the Czech Republic, current policy initiatives, and possible future approaches. The report serves three purposes: i) to provide insights and advice to Czech education authorities; ii) to help other countries understand the Czech approach to the use of school resources; and iii) to provide input for the final comparative report of the OECD School Resources Review.

The scope for the analysis in this report includes early childhood education and school education. At the request of Czech authorities, the focus areas of the Review of School Resources in the Czech Republic are: i) the organisation of the school network; ii) the funding of school education; and iii) the teaching profession and school leadership (including improving their attractiveness). The analysis presented in the report refers to the situation faced by the education system in May 2015,
when the review team visited the Czech Republic.

The Czech Republic’s involvement in the OECD review was co-ordinated by Michael Vlach, Strategies and Interdepartmental Affairs Unit, Department of Strategy and European Affairs, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic. An important part of the Czech Republic’s involvement was the preparation of a comprehensive and informative Country Background Report (CBR) on school resource use authored by Petr Mazouch and Kristýna Vltavská, Researchers at the University of Economics. The OECD review team is very grateful to the main authors of the CBR and to all those who assisted them in providing a useful basis for questioning during the review. The CBR is an important output from the OECD Project in its own right as well as an important source for the review team. Unless indicated otherwise, the data for this report are taken from the Czech Country Background Report. The CBR follows guidelines prepared by the OECD secretariat and provides extensive information, analysis and discussion in regard to the national context, the organisation of the education system, the use of school resources and the views of key stakeholders. In this sense, the CBR and this report complement each other and, for a more comprehensive view of the effectiveness of school resource use in the Czech Republic, should be read in conjunction.

The OECD and the European Commission (EC) have established a partnership for the Project, whereby participation costs of countries which are part of the European Union’s Erasmus+ programme are partly covered. The review of the Czech Republic was organised with the support of the EC in the context of this partnership. The EC was part of the planning process of the review of the Czech Republic (providing comments on the Czech Republic’s CBR, participating in the preparatory
visit and providing feedback on the planning of the review visit) and offered comments on drafts of this report. This contribution was coordinated by Christèle Duvieusart, Country Desk Officer for the Czech Republic as regards education and training, working within the “Country Analysis” Unit of the Directorate for “Modernisation of Education I: Europe 2020, country analysis, Erasmus+ co-ordination”, which is part of the Directorate General for Education and Culture (DG EAC) of the
European Commission. The review team is grateful to Christèle Duvieusart for her contribution to the planning of the review and also for the helpful comments she provided on drafts of this report.

The review visit to the Czech Republic took place in May 2015. The itinerary is provided in Annex C. The visit was designed by the OECD (with input from the EC) in collaboration with the Czech authorities. It also involved a preparatory visit by the OECD secretariat in November 2014, with the participation of Christèle Duvieusart, from the EC. The review team held discussions with a wide range of groups at all levels of government (central, regional and municipal).

The OECD review team wishes to record its gratitude to the many people who gave time from their busy schedules to inform the review team of their views, experiences and knowledge. The meetings were open and provided a wealth of insights. Special words of appreciation are due to the National Co-ordinator, Michael Vlach, for his organisation of the review visit and the Czech Republic’s participation in the broader OECD review. The review team wishes to thank him for his efficient and friendly practical support. The courtesy and hospitality extended to us throughout our stay in the Czech Republic made our task as a review team as pleasant and enjoyable as it was stimulating and challenging.

The OECD review team is also grateful to colleagues at the OECD.  Eléonore Morena provided key administrative, editorial and layout support. Paulo Santiago and Yuri Belfali provided guidance and support.

This report is organised in five chapters. Chapter 1 provides the national context, with information on the Czech school system, main trends and concerns as well as recent developments. Chapter 2 analyses the governance of schooling and the organisation of the school network.
Chapter 3 reviews approaches to school funding. Chapter 4 looks at the management of the teaching workforce while Chapter 5 examines  school leadership policies. Each chapter presents strengths,
challenges and policy recommendations.

The policy recommendations attempt to build on and strengthen reforms that are already underway in the Czech Republic, and the strong commitment to further improvement that was evident among those the OECD review team met. The suggestions should take into account the
difficulties that face any visiting group, no matter how well briefed, in grasping the complexity of the Czech Republic and fully understanding all the issues. Of course, this report is the responsibility of the OECD review team. While the team benefited from the Czech CBR and other documents, as well as the many discussions with a wide range of Czech personnel, any errors or misinterpretations in this report are its responsibility.

Listening is one of the four language skills and works behind other skills, especially behind speaking. This study aimed to reveal the challenges of implementing listening practice using audio materials in EFL classroom in Bangladesh. Self-administered questionnaires and 4 FGDs were used to collect data from the respondents who were randomly selected from 10 secondary schools, 2 teachers and 5 students from each. The study found that the respondents from regular schools face more challenges than those are from EIA intervention schools and the challenges emerged from lack of technical support and access to audio materials in regular schools.

Araştırmanın amacı, ilkokullarda görev yapan okul müdürlerinin
görüşlerinden yararlanarak ilkokulların mali kaynak gerektiren ihtiyaçlarını
belirlemek, bu ihtiyaçlarını karşılamak için gerekli olan finans kaynaklarını
nasıl elde ettiklerini tespit etmek ve okulların finans ihtiyaçları
doğrultusunda okul müdürlerinin çözüm önerilerini belirlemektir.
Araştırmanın çalışma grubunu dokuz ilkokul müdürü oluşturmaktadır.
Araştırma nitel yöntemle yapılmıştır; veri toplamada görüşme
yönteminden yararlanılmıştır. Araştırmanın verileri yarı yapılandırılmış
görüşmelerle elde edilmiştir. Araştırmada elde edilen verilerin
çözümlenmesinde içerik analizinden yararlanılmıştır. Araştırmada
ilkokullarda mali kaynak gerektiren ihtiyaçlar beş başlık altında
toplanmıştır. Bunlar kırtasiye ihtiyaçları, temizlik ihtiyaçları, fiziksel
ihtiyaçlar, bilişim ve donanım ihtiyaçları ve yardımcı personel ihtiyaçlarıdır.
Ayrıca okul müdürleri bu ihtiyaçlarını, gönüllü veli bağışları, kantin
gelirleri, Okul Aile Birliği faaliyetleri, İl ve İlçe Milli Eğitim Müdürlükleri’nin
kantin gelirleri, hayırsever vatandaşlardan alınan bağışlar, çeşitli sivil
toplum kurumlarından alınan yardımlar, yerel yönetimlerden alınan
yardımlar, kermesler, okul içinde yapılan sosyal faaliyetler, okul
bahçesinde bulunan para çekme makinesi, okula gelir sağlamak için
yapılan pilav günleri, yapılan deneme sınavlarından alınan paylar,
öğrencilerin aldığı kaynak kitaplardan alınan paylar, okula alınan fotokopi
kağıtlarından alınan paylar, mahalle muhtarları aracılığı ile elde edilen
gelirler olmak üzere15 farklı gelir çeşidi ile karşılamaya çalışmaktadırlar.
Okul müdürleri, okullarının finansal sorunlarının çözümü için velilerin  / This study aims to determine the financial needs of primary schools, the solutions of school principals for these problems, and the proposed solutions of the school principals in line with these financial problems at schools. The sample was consisted nine primary school principals. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews; therefore, the research was conducted with qualitative method. The data was analyzed using the data content analysis. The results revealed five different financial needs including paperwork needs, cleaning needs, physical needs, information and hardware needs, and staff needs at schools.. The school principals used different resources to satisfy these needs. These resources can be listed as volunteer parent donations, canteen revenues, PTA activities, revenues from charitable citizens, aids received from various NGOs, aid from municipalities, revenues from money withdrawing machine in the school garden, from rice days, from national exams, from the books bought by the students, from photocopy, and aids from the neighborhood headmen who can easily find money. Lastly, they offered nine different suggestions such as showing features. Moreover, they revealed that they need to change the perceptions of parents, and to establish good relations with their environment. In addition, they proposed that they need to work in conformity with the PTA. Furthermore, they suggested that they can organize fairs, find sister school, find sponsor firms, and get help from municipalities more.

This book explains the Victorian school funding and financial management and governance model, within the broader Australian context, in a simple and comprehensible manner. This book will assist school council members, principals, aspiring principals, school business managers, graduate students, teachers, parents, and interested community stakeholders to grasp the Victorian school funding, financial management and governance system, together with current issues and future trends in Australia, without difficulty.

Applying Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), this study explores the configurations of conditions that contribute to the polarisation of high-performing and low-performing secondary schools in Victoria, Australia. It is argued that the success and failure of schools can be understood in terms of causal complexity, where one or several configurations of conditions can cause a given outcome. The study identifies that there is no single condition alone that produces high or low performance. However, the study does reveal the existence of multiple configurations or causal relations that tend to produce school success or school failure. Relative to the dataset considered in this study, three configurations related to success and almost twice that many configurations underpinning to failure are identified. The polarisation of the high-performing and low-performing schools and persistent inequality are complex phenomena. This study presents QCA as a useful and alternative methodology for researchers to uncover such complex phenomenon over and above large-scale quantitative and classical analysis.

Confronting persistent and widening inequality in educational opportunity, advocates have regarded the right to education as a linchpin for reform. In the forty years since the Supreme Court relegated that right to the domain of state constitutional law, its power has surged and faded in litigation challenging state school finance systems. Like so many of the students it is meant to protect, however, the right to education has generally underachieved, in part because those wielding it have not always appreciated its distinctive forms and function. Deconstructed, the right to education held by children has been formulated doctrinally as both a claim-right, imposing affirmative duties on the state to act, and an immunity, disabling certain state action. These two strands — oft-manifested as the claim-right to educational “adequacy” and an immunity entailing “equality” of educational opportunity — once considered irreconcilable are actually interlocked by the right’s core, historical f...

As an essential facet of orthodox Jewish lifestyle, Jewish education, and more specifically its financial viability, is one of – if not the most – discussed issues in the Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox collective. With “861 schools nationwide accommodating nearly 255,000 [Jewish] students enrolled from the four-year-old level through 12th grade in Jewish elementary and secondary schools in the 2013-14 school year” (Schick, 2014). It is no wonder, that Jewish education is major priority for observant Jewish families, as they unanimously send their children to such schools. In this essay I will examine the ways which these Yeshiva private schools finance themselves, thus ensuring their survivability – as “government funding is not available, in any significant way, to private schools at this time” (Schloss, 2014).

During the 2006-07 school year, Missouri implemented a new method to fund K-12 public schools. The new foundation formula was the Missouri Legislature’s response to legal challenges brought against the previous formula regarding equity and adequacy. The new foundation formula sought to rectify those problems by elevating funding to adequate levels in all school districts and by leveling the playing field between property-rich and property-poor districts. Though the entire formula is detailed in chapter 163 of Missouri’s revised statutes, it can be very difficult to understand. This primer has been written to help Missourians better understand how their schools are funded.

INTRODUCTION 576 I. SCHOOL DESEGREGATION 582 A. Separate-but-“Equal” Schools 582 B. The Tide Begins to Turn 584 C. Brown v. Board Arrives 587 D. Enter Brown II 590 II. THE ADVENT OF SCHOOL FINANCE LITIGATION 596 A. Equity Cases 596 B. The “Shift” to “Adequacy” Litigation 601 1. Problems with Defining an Adequate Education...... 603 2. Choosing the “Right” Plaintiffs 607 3. The Problems with Remedies 613 III. ?DONDE VAMOS? (WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?) 629 CONCLUSION 631

In this paper, we offer a Leftist critique of standard liberal defenses
of the public school. We suggest that the standard arguments
employed by mainstream liberal defenders of the public school
are generally inadequate because they fail to provide a credible
representation of their historical object, let alone effective remedies
to our current problems. Indeed, many of these narratives, in
our view, are grounded in fantasies about what public schools, or
teaching and learning, are or could be, as much as they are
grounded in the historical realities of public schools or the realities
of so-called privatization. We speculate whether the self identification
of the proponents of this cause as ‘progressive’ is
not part of this ideological construction and if the underlying
political agenda is not in fact more conservative.

This study examined evidence of equity for English Learners-one of the three targeted student groups–in the early implementation of California’s Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) across data sets from seven stu- dies. We used social justice inquiry methods and data integration analy- tic approaches that included purposeful sampling of districts’ Local Control and Accountability Plans (LCAPs), and data integration analyses of interviews with education leaders to examine how equity was advanced for English Learners. Our findings reveal that the quest for equity for English Learners is elusive and requires multilevel efforts to reverse the national, state, and local histories of unequal treatment, deficit orientations, socio-political dynamics, and legacies of unequal funding that still permeate many schools. Further advances in equity will require greater systemic coherence that sharpens the focus on educational outcomes for English Learners. California’s most recent pol- icy shifts–including the passage of Proposition 58 and the English Learner Roadmap–show promise of systemic coherence and alignment to an assets-based approach for English Learners in the state and nation, as tangible evidence of equity in services and outcomes are still works in progress.

Policymakers and practitioners often must balance distributing resources equitably and efficiently while being accountable for high student achievement. This paper focuses on these concepts as they relate to English learners and examines equity and efficiency in Minnesota's educational funding from 2003 through 2011, the years spanning implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act and Minnesota's waiver from its regulations. Equity refers to the distribution of resources in the achievement of established goals (Alexander, 2012); efficiency entails the attainment of those goals using fewer resources (Rolle, 2004). We measure equity by looking at three standard

This book presents expert analysis on how the remarkable rise of mass schooling was funded during the nineteenth century. Based on rich source materials from rural Swedish school districts, and drawing up evidence from schooling in countries including France, Germany, England and the U.S., Westberg examines the moral considerations that guided economic practices and sheds new light on how the advent of schooling did not only rest upon monies, but also on grains, firewood and cow fodder. Exploring school districts’ motives and economic culture, this book shows how schooling was neither primarily guided by frugal impulses nor motivated by a fear of the growing working classes. Instead, school spending served multiple purposes in school districts that pursued a fair and reasonable economic practice.

In addition to being a highly-detailed case study of Sweden 1840 – 1900 this book also entails a broadening of the theoretical horizon of history of education into social, agrarian and economic history in a wider context.  With a focus on different systems of school finance, this work reveals a key change over time: from a largely in-kind system supporting schools in an early phase, followed by an increasingly monetarized, depersonalized and homogenized system of school finance. Boasting an interdisciplinary appeal, this will be a welcome contribution of interest to scholars in the fields of education history, sociology, and economics.

This paper analyzes a variety of budgeting systems utilized by schools across the nation (Garner, 2004), for both their efficiency and shortcomings. Additionally, budgeting within Jewish Orthodox schools is analyzed and scrutinized for most common budget building practices used within these educational institutions. Furthermore, the paper briefly presents groundwork for an alternative budget building process, including an illustration of a unique format for budget approval

Purpose The method by which the state allocates resources to its schooling system can serve as an important instrument for achieving desired improvements in levels of educational attainment, social equity and other social policy goals. In many school systems, the allocation of school resources is done according to a needs-based funding formula. The purpose of this paper is to provide a deeper understanding of some significant tradeoffs involved in employing needs-based funding formulae. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on theoretical investigations of normative aspects involved in using needs-based funding formulae. Findings There are a number of underexplored complications and difficulties that arise from the use of needs-based funding formulae. Dealing with these involves significant tradeoffs that require taking normative decisions. Understanding these tradeoffs is important for improving the use of needs-based funding formulae. Originality/value The paper highlights three under-examined issues that emerge from the current use of needs-based funding formulae. These issues are: to what extent funding formulae should be responsive to social and economic needs? To what extent should funding formulae allow for the use of discretion in resource allocation? To what degree needs-based formulae funding should be linked to outcomes? By discussing these issues and the tradeoffs involved in them, the paper provides a deeper understanding of significant aspects stemming from the use of needs-based funding formulae. This, in turn, can serve as a basis for an improved and better informed process for decision making regarding the use of funding formulae.

This paper examines the effect of home price distribution on the likelihood of parcel tax adoption in California school districts. A parcel tax is a regressive tax imposed as the same amount per unit of a property regardless of property values and requires a two-thirds supermajority vote to be adopted. Despite the growing role that local parcel taxes have in funding public education, it has not been fully understood how their regressive nature influences adoption. I argue that because the regressive tax imposes different marginal property tax rates for voters, the distribution of home prices within a district determines the likelihood of parcel tax adoption. Using the Heckman selection models with California school district level data, I find that a large gap in home values within a district significantly lowers the likelihood of parcel tax adoption.

What was the impact of government grants on the emerging national elementary school systems of the nineteenth century? This article deals with this question through a study of the introduction of matching government grants in Sweden during the latter part of the nineteenth century. The analysis shows that, although the government grants increased rapidly with the introduction of matching grants, they did not crowd out local funding. Instead, the grants stimulated local taxation, increasing the number of teachers as well as their salaries. This occurred because the grants were perceived as an incentive by local school boards and because the financial control of the Swedish elementary school system remained at a local level. Thus, this article also contributes to the research on the expansion of mass education during the nineteenth century, commenting on the significance of both state intervention and a decentralised organisation.

Policymakers and practitioners often must balance distributing resources equitably and efficiently while being accountable for high student achievement. This paper focuses on these concepts as they relate to English learners and examines equity and efficiency in Minnesota’s educational funding from 2003 through 2011, the years spanning implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act and Minnesota’s waiver from its regulations. Equity refers to the distribution of resources in the achievement of established goals (Alexander, 2012); efficiency entails the attainment of those goals using fewer resources (Rolle, 2004). We measure equity by looking at three standard distribution measures: (1) McCloone Index; (2) Verstegen Index; and (3) Coefficient of Variation (Odden & Picus, 2008). We operationalize efficiency using data envelope analysis, thus getting at aspects of technical efficiency. We found that distribution of expenditures are increasingly uneven in the nine-year period examined....

Massive funding cuts to public education took place around the country following the Great Recession. Many school districts were forced to conduct teacher layoffs at a larger scale than any other time in recent history. We show that prior to a district intervention, the layoff process disproportionately impacted historically disadvantaged students in the Los Angeles Unified School District. We then demonstrate the success of a policy designed to reduce inequality in the distribution of teacher layoffs.

What were teachers’ allotted farms, and what were they for? This study aims to answer these questions by examining these farms in nineteenth century Sweden, and their role in the expansion of the elementary school system in 1838–1900. Focusing on the allotted farms of the Sundsvall region, this article analyses how these farms provided teachers with fields and meadows, as well as outhouses such as cowsheds, bakehouses and cellars. This article argues that these farms made schooling more affordable for the school districts, primarily in the first two decades after the Elementary School Act of 1842. Allotted farms were often inexpensive to acquire and maintain, not least owing to the agricultural and maintenance work that the teachers carried out, and yielded an annual return that reduced the taxation needed to operate the school districts. This, in turn, facilitated the expansion of schooling.

Extending the theoretical work of the late 1980s (by Pressman and Wildavsky, Richard Elmore, Goggin, O’Toole and McLaughlin et al.), this research developed a conceptual framework to explore complexities in policy implementation processes and was applied  to study the process by which centrally formulated educational policies were implemented within a decentralised educational administrative system in Sri Lanka.  The research project discovered dynamics and tensions between the centre and periphery including complex relationships between centralised policy, local implementation, local bureaucracy and local politics.

Managing your finances is a lifelong learning process, and no matter what people say, your well-being and happiness hinges on it. This should convince you that your finances should be one of your priorities. Managing finances begins with gathering knowledge about it. Learning will help you nurture and grow your financial skills and equip you with a better understanding of what you’re dealing with. Here are 5 things about finances everybody should know:

Cycle-based Budgeting (CBB) is built on ten key concepts, which you will see throughout this web site and in the toolkit. You can use these ten terms to help explain to your colleagues what CBB is about, why it can be helpful, and how to do it.  Due to its length, this post is divided into two parts. In this part, the following five key concepts are presented:

Budget as Investment
Investment Item
Investment Item Owner
Investment Cycle
Expected Return