Dallas Public Library

Schoolhouses, courthouses, and statehouses, solving the funding-achievement puzzle in America's public schools, Eric A. Hanushek and Alfred A. Lindseth

eng

Includes bibliographical references (p. [363]-393) and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Schoolhouses, courthouses, and statehouses

bibliography

Eric A. Hanushek and Alfred A. Lindseth

solving the funding-achievement puzzle in America's public schools

Spurred by court rulings requiring states to increase public school funding, the United States now spends more per student on K-12 education than almost any other country. Yet American students still achieve less than their foreign counterparts, their performance has been flat for decades, millions of them are failing, and poor and minority students remain far behind their more advantaged peers. In this book, the authors trace the history of reform efforts and conclude that the principal focus of both courts and legislatures on ever increasing funding has done little to improve student achievement. Instead, they propose a new approach: a performance based system that directly links funding to success in raising student achievement. This system would empower and motivate educators to make better, more cost effective decisions about how to run their schools, ultimately leading to improved student performance. The authors have been important participants in the school funding debate for three decades. Here, they draw on their experience, as well as the best available research and data, to show why improving schools will require overhauling the way financing, incentives, and accountability work in public education

Chapter 1 : Just how important is education? -- Education and financial achievement -- Education and poverty -- Education and the nation's economic well-being -- Testing student skills -- Quality of U.S. colleges -- Chapter 2 : U.S. education at a crossroads -- Years of school completed -- Achievement levels (or the mastery of cognitive skills) -- International comparisons -- Achievement gaps -- Chapter 3 : The political responses -- Increased spending and resources for K-12 education -- Increased equity in funding for K-12 education -- The standards and accountability movement -- Increased school choice options -- Teacher certification -- Conclusions -- Chapter 4 : Court interventions in school finance -- Federal desegregation litigation and Milliken II remedies -- "Equity" cases -- "Adequacy" cases -- Chapter 5 : Practical issues with educational adequacy -- Defining an "adequate" education -- The element of causation -- Problems relating to remedy -- Problems inherent in the makeup and processes of the courts -- Chapter 6 : The effectiveness of judicial remedies -- Kentucky -- Wyoming -- New Jersey -- Massachusetts -- Chapter 7 : Science and school finance decision making -- A simple decision model -- How much is enough? -- How should the money be spent? -- Using science more effectively -- Chapter 8 : A performance-based funding system -- Guiding principles : back to basics -- A performance-based funding system -- Big city schools -- Conclusions -- Chapter 9 : Making performance-based funding a reality -- The persistence of illusory spending solutions -- Support for the status quo and resistance to change -- Some current countervailing forces -- Encouraging true reform : mutually agreed bargains -- Changing the focus of the courts -- Mobilizing for the future