Change Your World Week Fall 2021 (Archived)

       In an article written by Jess Garner (founder and CEO of a company dedicated to educator funding, Allovue), titled The Bottom Line: How are Public Schools Funded, “nearly $700 billion per year flows through the K-12 public education system”. $700 billion seems like a plethora of money allocated to education, but where exactly is this money coming from?Why are our school systems lacking if all of this money is being provided? Where is all of this funding going and why are our students not getting the proper supplies they need to learn?

      Federal spending on schools only accounts for about 8% of the funding any given school district receives, as stated by the U.S. Department of Education. That being said, where does the remaining 92% of funding come from? State and Local governments are responsible for a great majority of the money a school district receives. In Michigan, K-12 schools spend about $17.7 billion annually, that's roughly $11,783 per student (U.S. Public Education Spending Statistics, Education Data Initiative). 

      So how do we distribute all that money? In an article regarding school funding formulas, “the most popular model for school funding is the foundation grant,” (written by Alexandra Tilsley on urban.org). This is a model that states can follow, but are not required to, that determines what district gets how much percentage of the states allotted funds. To put it simply, the state has a set minimum amount that each student of a district must receive and any total funds not raised by the local government and district will be provided by the state, and then some. Although this seems fair, there's a huge downside with this system. The foundation grant model clearly favors wealthier communities. In this model, districts that are wealthy enough to pay higher tax percentages year round receive a considerable amount more of funding than poorer school districts. Meaning, schools in a more wealthy community get more money allocated to spend on student and school growth, whereas school districts in poverty areas get just enough to meet state minimums.

      Unfortunately, “there’s no standard method or formula for allocating district dollars to schools” as stated by Jess Garner, whom we referenced earlier. This seems to be the biggest challenge is the educational funding process because every district essentially spends the money however they see fit. On the American University School of Education website, there's an article titled Inequality in Public School Funding: Key Issues & Solutions for Closing the Gap, in which the author states, “The harsh reality is some schools have the benefit of quality buildings and facilities, while others must make do with leaking ceilings and makeshift gymnasiums”.

    Some people argue that schools receive enough money as it is and what they get now is enough to cover the students' needs. What is not covered by federal and state funding is the schools job to figure out through fundraising. They believe that it is the schools responsibility to make up for the lack of adequate funding for their children and the rest of the students. This side of the argument thinks we need to limit government spending, which would affect schools a lot. 

   The national government plays a role in school funding but are not the big players in it. The biggest players in school funding are state governments. The state determines how much a school gets and where the money goes. Tax payers also play a part in the funding of schools, some of their tax dollars goes to funding schools. School boards are a factor to consider too. They review the budget given to them and plan the the funding priorities based on what the school wants. In the end we all are involved in the funding of schools. Some are just bigger players than others in the game of funding schools.

      Currently, the federal government pays only 8% of the budgetary needs of public education. State and local governments pay for the other 92%, and how much a school gets from the state is determined by funding formulas. But shouldn’t every student get a fair chance of getting a great education? There should be a statewide set amount, that is the same for every student in any school, of funding that goes directly towards the students’ education. Learning should be for every student, and they should all have a fighting chance to do it. Nationwide the Elementary and Secondary Education Act ensures each student gets the same amount of money no matter what state they are in. This equaled out the field, but it did not state where this money goes to schools. The government has taken a step in the right direction, but they need a push to really get there. This policy of a set amount of money that is the same towards students’ educational needs could be the final push they need.  

Petition to sign for equal funding for public schools.

    This petition is from change.org and is almost to its goal of five thousand signatures! It was created to bring up how funding is not equal for all public schools. It brings to light the learning divide that has been going on for years. 

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Benner, M., Boser, U., & Martin, C. (2018, November 13). A Quality Approach to School Funding. Center for American            Progress. Retrieved October 18, 2021, from https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/education-                                             k12/reports/2018/11/13/460397/quality-approach-school-funding/.

DeGrow, B. (2017, July). How school funding works in Michigan. Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Retrieved October           18, 2021, from https://www.mackinac.org/school-funding.

Gordan, V. (2019, January 28). MSU study: Michigan Public Schools Face Nation's sharpest decline in state funding.                 Michigan Radio. Retrieved October 19, 2021, from https://www.michiganradio.org/post/msu-study-michigan-public-            schools-face-nationssharpest-decline-state-funding

“U.S. Public Education Spending Statistics.” Education Data Initiative. 10/24/21 <https://educationdata.org/public-education-spending-statistics>

“The Federal Role in Education.” U.S. Department of Education. 10/25/21 <https://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/fed/role.html>

“How do school funding formulas work?” Urban. 10/25/21 <https://apps.urban.org/features/funding-formulas/>

“Inequality in Public School Funding: Key Issues & Solutions for Closing the Gap.” American University School of Education. 10/24/21 <https://soeonline.american.edu/blog/inequality-in-public-school-funding>

“The Bottom Line: How are Public Schools Funded?” Allovue. 10/24/21

<https://blog.allovue.com/how-are-public-schools-funded>