Funding public schools : politics and policies / Kenneth K. Wong.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wong, Kenneth K., 1955-

Series:

Studies in government and public policy

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Education--United States--Finance.

Education.

United States.

Finance.

Education--Political aspects--United States.

Education--Political aspects.

Education and state--United States.

Education and state.

Physical Description:

xi, 208 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Lawrence : University Press of Kansas, 1999.

Summary:

This book examines the fundamental role of politics in funding our public schools and fills a conceptual imbalance in the current literature in school finance and educational policy. Unlike those who are primarily concerned about cost efficiency, Kenneth Wong specifies how resources are allocated for what purposes at different levels of the government. In contrast to those who focus on litigation as a way to reduce funding gaps, he underscores institutional stalemate and the lack of political will to act as important factors that affect legislative deadlock in school finance reform.

Wong defines how politics has sustained various types of "rules" that affect the allocation of resources at the federal, state, and local level. While these rules have been remarkably stable over the past twenty to thirty years, they have often worked at cross-purposes by fragmenting policy and constraining the education process at schools with the greatest needs.

Wong's examination is shaped by several questions. How do these rules come about? What role does politics play in retention of the rules? Do the federal, state, and local governments espouse different policies? In what ways do these policies operate at cross-purposes? How do they affect educational opportunities? Do the policies cohere in ways that promote better and more equitable student outcomes?

Wong concludes that the five types of entrenched rules for resource allocation are rooted in existing governance arrangements and seemingly impervious to partisan shifts, interest group pressures, and constitutional challenge. And because these rules foster policy fragmentation and embody initiatives out of step with the performance-based reformagenda of the 1990s, the outlook for positive change in public education is uncertain unless fairly radical approaches are employed.

Wong also analyzes four allocative reform models, two based on the assumption that existing political structures are unlikely to change and two that seek to empower actors at the school level. The two models for system-wide restructuring, aimed at intergovernmental coordination and/or integrated governance, would seek to clarify responsibilities for public education among federal, state, and local authorities -- above all, integrating political and educational accountability. The other two models identified by Wong shift control from state and district to the school, one based on local leadership and the other based on market forces. In discussing the guiding principles of the four models, Wong takes care to identify both the potential and limitations of each.

Written with a broad policy audience in mind, Wong's book should appeal to professionals interested in the politics of educational reform and to teachers of courses dealing with educational policy and administration and intergovernmental relations.

Contents:

1. Politics of Allocating Resources in Schools 1

The Need for Reform: Efficiency and Functional Perspectives 3

A Differentiated Perspective on Allocational Politics 9

Understanding the Politics of Allocative Reform 15

2. Politics of Social Targeting at the Federal Level 18

An Institutional Perspective on Allocating Federal Resources 19

Social Targeting as a National Concern 22

Political Conflict over the Federal Legislative Agenda 25

Implementation Process: Conflict and Accommodation to Federal Rule Layering 31

Allocation of Federal Resources to Promote Classroom Learning 35

Making Better Use of Federal Resources 40

3. Mapping Interstate Variation in State Aid to Schools 42

The Progressive State 45

The Reluctant State 51

Mapping the Politics of State Aid 62

4. Politics of Leveling Up Spending at the State Level 71

Leveling Up as a Primary Allocative Strategy 72

Political Institutions as a Layering Process 77

When Politics Contributes to Leveling-Up Strategy 83

Limits of the Leveling-Up Strategy 85

Political Resistance against Closing the Gaps 88

5. The Emerging State Role in Social Targeting 91

Growing Distinctiveness from Federal Policy 92

Politics and State Social Equity 93

Mapping the Classroom Effects of State Social Targeting 98

Variations in State Social Targeting Strategies 105

Linking Schooling Opportunites to State Targeting and Funding Strategies 108

Policy and Research Implications of State Social Equity Strategies 119

6. Local Politics of Equalizing Class Size 122

Understanding Local Allocative Practices 122

Political Pressure for Equalizing Class Size 124

Institutional Effects of Local Allocative Decisions 131

Reconsidering Local Rules 136

7. Redesigning School Governance and Resource Allocation: Four Alternative Models 138

Systemwide Restructuring: Intergovernmental Coordination 140

School-based Reform: Voice Models 145

Systemwide Restructuring: Integrated Governance 148

School-based Reform: Consumer-driven Models 155.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 163-196) and index.

ISBN:

0700609873

0700609881

OCLC:

41320131