Pennsylvania’s state school funding disparities and irrationalities - Allegheny Institute for Public Policy
As a Pennsylvania taxpayer, I have an interest in how tax dollars are spent and the benefits that are derived from these expenditures. The Allegheny Institute sends out periodic bulletins on that subject, of which the linked article is one.
Grossly summarizing the conclusion of the article, higher spending in K-12 education has almost no effect on academic results. The highest spending occurs in rich, suburban school districts ("white" districts) and in urban school districts (mainly "Black" districts). In the white districts, the funding is primarily raised through local real estate taxes, and in the Black districts, the funding is contributed mainly by the State and Federal governments (Federal spending is not included in the linked study, but it is distributed approximately the same as with the State funds).
The Elephant in this particular Room is that academic achievement (measured by test scores) can be tracked in an almost linear fashion - at least in Pennsylvania - by how "white" or "Black" the school district is. Money spent (per pupil) has almost nothing to do with it. This leads to the unavoidable conclusion that throwing more money at Black districts in the hope of improving academic achievement is a waste of taxpayer money.
At least that is the case under current pedagogical philosophies.
But one can always find examples of Black urban schools that do extraordinarily well. Invariably, they are schools that are more structured, have better discipline, and are more demanding than a typical public school. They have dress codes, behavior codes, some even have school uniforms. Faculty members are more likely to be members of minority groups as well, especially the Principals and administrators.
They are often 'Charter' schools, which teachers' unions abhor, because their faculty are not required to be union members.
When will our society be mature enough to recognize and act on the knowledge that greater structure is required in "inner city" schools, if we really expect to bring schools to parity? When will we tell the teachers' unions to go fuck off - we'll run the schools in the manner best suited to education, and not to keep the faculty happy?
As a Pennsylvania taxpayer, I have an interest in how tax dollars are spent and the benefits that are derived from these expenditures. The Allegheny Institute sends out periodic bulletins on that subject, of which the linked article is one.
Grossly summarizing the conclusion of the article, higher spending in K-12 education has almost no effect on academic results. The highest spending occurs in rich, suburban school districts ("white" districts) and in urban school districts (mainly "Black" districts). In the white districts, the funding is primarily raised through local real estate taxes, and in the Black districts, the funding is contributed mainly by the State and Federal governments (Federal spending is not included in the linked study, but it is distributed approximately the same as with the State funds).
The Elephant in this particular Room is that academic achievement (measured by test scores) can be tracked in an almost linear fashion - at least in Pennsylvania - by how "white" or "Black" the school district is. Money spent (per pupil) has almost nothing to do with it. This leads to the unavoidable conclusion that throwing more money at Black districts in the hope of improving academic achievement is a waste of taxpayer money.
At least that is the case under current pedagogical philosophies.
But one can always find examples of Black urban schools that do extraordinarily well. Invariably, they are schools that are more structured, have better discipline, and are more demanding than a typical public school. They have dress codes, behavior codes, some even have school uniforms. Faculty members are more likely to be members of minority groups as well, especially the Principals and administrators.
They are often 'Charter' schools, which teachers' unions abhor, because their faculty are not required to be union members.
When will our society be mature enough to recognize and act on the knowledge that greater structure is required in "inner city" schools, if we really expect to bring schools to parity? When will we tell the teachers' unions to go fuck off - we'll run the schools in the manner best suited to education, and not to keep the faculty happy?
