The Last Billion
Tuesday, November 18th, 2008 By Matthew CarrThe Ohio State Board of Education has just released a report with its recommendations for reforming school funding. The bottom line, according to the Columbus Dispatch:
The plan would establish a per-student base cost of providing an education, with additional money to meet the needs of poor youngsters, those with special needs, gifted students and those with limited English proficiency. It also calls for expanding all-day kindergarten statewide and providing special-education services for preschoolers.
Had the proposal been in place last school year, it would have boosted state aid to primary and secondary schools by nearly $1 billion.
Ohio’s K-12 system spent over $17 billion last year, which raises the obvious question of diminishing marginal returns: If the 17th billion didn’t provide much of an impact on school quality, why would we expect the 18th billion to make much difference either?
And, not surprisingly, the available research supports the conclusion that increased spending at this point doesn’t make much difference. As we’ve said before, it’s not how much you spend, but how you spend it.
The far larger problem with the board’s proposal is that it perpetuates the state’s current district-based funding system. While funding levels are determined by student demographics, the resources ultimately flow to the district, which then distributes it to individual schools as they see fit. Our study last year on intra-district inequities showed that in many cases districts don’t pass on the resources to the students needing them most.
Instead of sticking to the status quo funding model, with or without that extra billion, we should instead focus on fundamental, systemic reforms such as a truly weighted student funding system. Fortunately, the Buckeye Institute will be releasing a new report next month on how to bring such a system to Ohio.
