The Committee for Economic Development recommends the following actions to overhaul how schools are financed:
Effective Allocation of Resources
- Expand principals’ budget authority, but hold them to standards of “good managerial practice and school-based accountability for student learning.”
- Create every school’s budget based on the educational needs of students.
- Develop data systems that indicate the best ways to spend money.
Changes in Teacher Compensation
- Replace the single-salary schedule with one that reflects “the realities of the teacher labor market,” using differential pay scales to attract teachers in areas where their expertise is most needed.
- Change pension and transfer policies that “penalize mobile teachers, further handicapping districts facing difficulties attracting job candidates.”
Inentives for Improved Performance
- Link “some portion” of teachers’ pay to their students academic outcomes.
- Create “more equitable financial policies ... to give charter schools a fair opportunity to succeed.”
Costs of Standards-Based Education
- Policymakers need to “provide sufficient funding for schools and students to meet the new requirements” of standards-based education.
SOURCE: “Investing in Learning,” Committee for Economic Development
