Forms of weighted school funding (WSF) are gaining traction in Ohio at the state and district levels. Emmy Partin nicely summarizes the State Board's upcoming vote on a version of WSF, which she notes includes "weights for students with disabilities, economically disadvantaged students, limited English proficient students, and gifted students." Unfortunately, the plan is flawed. Emmy writes:
The [recommendation of the school-funding subcommittee] ultimately falls short of a true WSF plan, however. The subcommittee report continues central office control over real spending decisions and does not empower school leaders closest to the children. Nor do the recommendations call for funding to follow the child from school to school. Unfortunately, as written, the recommendations are a missed opportunity and may simply result in funding the education status quo to the tune of $1 billion more per year (see here).
Developments in Cincinnati look more promising, as the CPS board and interim superintendent plan to restore WSF in 2009-10. (Under former superintendent Steven Adamowski, Cincinnati began WSF in 1999, only to discontinue it in pieces over recent years, well after his departure.) Reports the Cincinnati Enquirer:
With student-based budgeting, the money follows the students and schools are responsible for their budgets. It was temporarily suspended after an operating levy loss. Because CPS then passed a levy in March, it's now planning to restore student-based budgeting.Board President Eve Bolton asked about the philosophy and purpose of student-based budgeting.
"My understanding is we couldn't hold schools accountable until we gave them control of the funds to make decisions on how to deliver instruction to their students and how to deliver services to the students. So, this is a decentralized way to give them the dollars and the decision making," said Jennifer Wagner, interim chief information officer.
"It was to help create an equitable system, because in the past, magnet programs got more money than neighborhood schools. This way, the dollars follow the student, not the program."
No district has implemented a "pure" form of WSF, adhering to all the principles of such a system, so we'll see what the new version in CPS contains. For example, I bet it will not incorporate real teacher salaries, an important component of a good WSF system - instead, they are apt to continue to budget based on an average teacher salaries, masking the higher cost of experienced teachers who tend to concentrate in better schools.
