Special Report
Budget & Finance

Taking More Control of the School Coffers

September 24, 2019 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Money fuels the daily operations of every public school and district—more than $700 billion in taxpayer dollars each year, undergirding the education of some 51 million public school students nationally.

But the public discussion about that funding can play out at a level far removed from the classroom. It often centers on whether too much or too little is being spent on K-12 overall; big-picture debates about whether money actually moves the needle on achievement; and the policy squabbles behind the latest budget proposals.

This Education Week special report puts a different lens on the spending picture. It focuses not on how much ends up in district coffers, but on what superintendents, principals, and others actually do with the money—and what stands in the way of their making better use of it.

To get a first-hand sense of that, the Education Week Research Center fielded a national survey that queried district- and school-level leaders about their preferences and pain points in managing the funds that keep their schools running. In their survey responses and follow-up interviews, these busy educators offer candid perspectives about the roadblocks they face, how much—or how little—the public knows about the funding puzzle, and what would give the best bang for the buck when it comes to school spending.

Offering important context, a series of information graphics highlights factors that are driving the cost of public education—including fixed expenses and changes in enrollment patterns and demographics—as well as policy landmarks over the last half century that play into the picture.

And in rounding out the report, Education Week reporters dig into the challenges local leaders face in managing and accounting for their funding. Among them: the looming federal requirement for districts to review how they spend their money and the connection to results; how much autonomy principals have over the funding they get and why that matters; and how ground-level choices about spending get tangled up in politics and red tape.

The aim is to show how those on the hot seat go about spending the taxpayer’s money in a way that advances learning and the forces that make that task so difficult.

—Mark W. Bomster,
Executive Project Editor

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the September 25, 2019 edition of Education Week as Taking More Control of School Coffers

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Equity & Diversity Webinar
Classroom Strategies for Building Equity and Student Confidence
Shape equity, confidence, and success for your middle school students. Join the discussion and Q&A for proven strategies.
Content provided by Project Lead The Way
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Professional Development Webinar
Disrupting PD Day in Schools with Continuous Professional Learning Experiences
Hear how this NC School District achieved district-wide change by shifting from traditional PD days to year-long professional learning cycles
Content provided by BetterLesson
Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and other jobs in K-12 education at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Budget & Finance ESG: The Hotly Contested Investment Strategy That Could Pose Trouble for Teacher Pensions
Pension funds are facing political pressure either to incorporate social goals into their investment approaches, or to do the opposite.
6 min read
Illustration: ESG Concept of Environmental, Social and Governance.  Sustainable Development. Alternative Energy.
iStock/Getty Images
Budget & Finance Letter to the Editor Federal Funds Should Be Prioritized to Support Mental Health
A psychologist urges districts to invest in social-emotional and mental health supports—above all others—in this letter to the editor.
1 min read
Education Week opinion letters submissions
Gwen Keraval for Education Week
Budget & Finance The Ballooning Expense That's Cutting Into Funding for Students
The costs of retirement benefits and unfunded pension liabilities have grown far more quickly than overall spending on K-12 schools.
3 min read
Illustration of money being carried away by a balloon that says "pensions"
Cemile Bingol/DigitalVision/Getty; Liz Yap/Education Week<br/>
Budget & Finance Data See Which School Districts Declined Federal Pandemic Aid
Administrative hassle, philosophical disagreements, and abrupt school closures are among the reasons districts rejected ESSER funds.
1 min read
Image of money falling from tree branches.
z_wei/iStock/Getty + EdWeek