Welcome
No, I am not the one making the arguments for public school funding increases. In this week’s CommenTerry, I provide an overview of four arguments used by public school employees and advocates to persuade elected officials to boost education budgets.
Bulletin Board
- I encourage everyone to attend a National School Choice Week event. During the week of January 22-28, organizations and groups in every state will hold events to celebrate the families that have benefited (and hope to benefit) from school choice.
— School choice pioneer Dr. Howard Fuller will be the keynote speaker at the Parents for Educational Freedom in NC (PEFNC) night of celebration event in Greensboro. The event will take place on Tuesday, January 24, at 6:30 p.m. inside the International Civil Rights Center & Museum. Doors will open at 6 p.m. and heavy hors d’oeuvres will be served. This event is free to the public, but attendees must register by clicking here.
— On January 26, the North Carolina chapter of Americans For Prosperity will host an event featuring political commentator Dick Morris. The event will be held at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte and begin at 6:30 p.m. The event is free but registration is required.
— AFP-North Carolina will have a simulcast event, Restoring American Exceptionalism–North Carolina Townhall, at Village Hall in Pinehurst. The simulcast of the Charlotte event will begin at 7:00 pm. Sign up for this event here.
- The North Carolina History Project would like educators and homeschool parents to submit lesson plans suitable for middle-school and high-school courses in North Carolina history. Please provide links to NC History Project encyclopedia articles and other primary and secondary source material, if possible. Go to the NC History Project web site for further information.
- In preparation for school choice week, visit JLF’s research newsletter archive.
CommenTerry
Public school employees across the state have begun to pressure county commissioners and members of the N.C. General Assembly to increase funding for public education. But these solicitations are just the start. Calls for significant increases in education funding will multiply and intensify in coming months. Without a doubt, they will reach a fever pitch when the NC General Assembly’s "short" session and local budget deliberations begin.
I borrow a typology formulated by education scholar Rick Hess to examine four common arguments that public school advocates use to appeal for additional funding from state and local officials.
- Excuse-mongering. Hess warns school officials to avoid "excuse-mongering"; that is, using budget cuts as an excuse for mediocrity. The purpose of this argument is to use funding to explain undesirable outcomes like low standardized test scores, decreases in graduation rates, increases in school crime, rises in teacher attrition rates, and the like.
Last year, state education leaders used this strategy to explain a dip in state test scores. Specifically, they suggested that budget cuts led to a decrease in schools meeting performance growth targets on state standardized tests. On the other hand, they were at a loss to explain graduation rate increases during the same budget period. How could funding levels explain one but not the other?
- Progress follows funding. Hess also cautioned public school leaders to not equate funding increases with progress. According to this common argument, school districts that receive more funding are also more innovative because additional funds allow school leaders to support special initiatives and hire specialized personnel.
The argument relies on two incorrect assumptions. First, it assumes that add-on initiatives and specialized personnel necessarily produce superior outcomes. The second assumption is that all promising innovations necessitate additional resources.
In addition, this argument is inaccurate historically. Researchers at the left-leaning Center for American Progress report, "After adjusting for inflation, education spending per student has nearly tripled over the past four decades. But while some states and districts have spent their additional dollars wisely–and thus shown significant increases in student outcomes–overall student achievement has largely remained flat." Decades of significant funding increases for our traditional public schools have failed to spur any lasting innovation or progress.
- Quality follows funding. A third response is one that characterizes all funding cuts as debilitating or compromising quality. The "quality follows funding" argument does not allow for the possibility that a budget cut can be beneficial for an organization. Hess points out that strategic budget cuts may have positive effects on an organization, such as boosting employee productivity, strengthening the culture, and increasing the long-term effectiveness of the organization.
- Counterproductive work behavior. Although it is less pronounced than the first three, Hess finds that some school leaders use budget cuts as a reason to tolerate or engage in otherwise unacceptable employee practices. That includes administrators who allow instructional personnel to shirk their assigned duties and responsibilities. It also includes employees who use budgetary and organizational changes to justify passive-aggressive behavior or professional shortcomings.
In the end, Hess urges school officials to "recognize that things are tough all over and then protect kids and programs by optimizing spending, rethinking instructional delivery, or finding ways for adults to shoulder the load." This is good advice, but I do not expect the education establishment to keep their composure. Taxpayers should expect them to invest a great deal of time and money to justify tax increases for their benefit … sorry, for the benefit of the children.
Random Thought
According to the website of the North Carolina Brewers Guild, "North Carolina boasts the largest number of craft breweries in the American South, with more than 20 brewpubs and 20 packaging breweries." That’s awesome.
Facts and Stats
4,720 — the number of state-supported education jobs added over the last year, according to preliminary public school personnel data from the Department of Public Instruction
Mailbag
I would like to invite all readers to submit announcements, as well as their personal insights, anecdotes, concerns, and observations about the state of education in North Carolina. I will publish selected submissions in future editions of the newsletter. Anonymity will be honored. For additional information or to send a submission, email Terry at [email protected].
Education Acronym of the Week
ROI — Return on Investment
Quote of the Week
"Every leader, public or private, has good budget years and bad ones. Responsible leaders make it their mission to do the very best they can with the resources they have–that’s the mission and the vision they share."
— Rick Hess, "How Supes & Principals Should Not Respond to Tight Budgets," Rick Hess Straight Up, Education Week blog, May 23, 2011.
Click here for the Education Update archive.
