Full Description
How might school funds be spent more effectively in today's uncertain environment? This up-to-date volume explores a range of ideas to help schools and districts better manage their resources, including: how to rethink staffing and management to get more value for employee compensation; how policymakers might revisit pension arrangements in ways that control costs while putting more teacher compensation in the form of take-home pay; how educators and policymakers can leverage technology as a performance-enhancer and not just a cost-cutting opportunity; and how districts might frame spending options differently in order to more properly assess the needs and preferences of students and families. As American education enters the next decade of challenges, including shortfalls due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Getting the Most Bang From the Education Buck will be a valuable guide for how to spend dollars wisely and well.
Book Features:
A systematic look at issues like pension costs, declining enrollments, and school choice.
Reflects changes in the political, policy, and practical landscapes to address the world as it stands now.
A user-friendly presentation with sensible talk about how to make dollars go further.
Each chapter covers a specific topic-from staffing to declining enrollments to pensions-making it easy for practitioners and professors to find their subject of interest.
Contents
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 1 Brandon L. Wright
PART I: WHERE WE ARE 9
1. American Schools Look to a Challenging Funding Future 11 Matthew Ladner
2. How to Address the Rising Cost of Employee Benefits 19 Chad Aldeman
3. The Relationship Between School Funding and Student Outcomes 35 Adam Tyner
PART II: THE WAY FORWARD 53
4. Schools and Systems That Are Getting More Bang for Their Buck 55 Michael Q. McShane
5. How the "Would You Rather" Test Can Help with School Finance Decisions 69 Marguerite Roza
6. Rethinking School Staffing 89 Bryan Hassel and Emily Ayscue Hassel
PART III: GETTING STARTED 111
7. Bridging the Technological Divide (for Good): How Public Education Leaders Can Successfully Integrate Technology, Without Breaking the Bank 113 Scott Milam, Carrie Stewart, and Katie Morrison-Reed
8. Breaking the Vise of Declining Enrollment 125 Karen Hawley Miles
9. Cost-Effective Special Education: Good for the Budget, Great for Kids 145 Nathan Levenson
Conclusion 161 Frederick M. Hess
About the Contributors 169
Index 173
