Chapter 8- School Budgeting
1. Read chapter 8 in the book School Finance: A Policy Perspective (Fourth or Fifth Edition*Note this is an earlier edition which is actually the better book than the later edition) by Allan R. Odden & Lawrence O. Picus, ISBN: 978-0-07-352592-1
2. Watch the video at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rMmC2sJrN0uTDKtVKHD–qtm5CxrDGOp/viewhttps://drive.google.com/file/d/1rMmC2sJrN0uTDKtVKHD–qtm5CxrDGOp/viewhttps://drive.google.com/file/d/1rMmC2sJrN0uTDKtVKHD–qtm5CxrDGOp/view
3. Look at the sample education fund budget for a district. Notice how many lines it has. Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/18K5bzsoL_VJlkFaiEFSg1BsubsklHirT/view?usp=sharingLinks to an external site.
4. You are a building principal, and your superintendent wants you to work on your building’s staffing budget.
– Besides the salaries of teachers, what are other staffing costs that you observe in the sample budget?
– Respond to this question. Note: you might need to look up account numbers to determine what the funds are.
Financing through Debt, Circuit Breakers, Referendum, and Construction
1. Watch the video:
– Bonding Construction etc Video https://drive.google.com/file/d/1llD3tayX9LE5aTPdOk0aiN_c96FepNq3/view
2. Read the following articles:
– Local Government Responds to Tax Caps https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QjzqH_hdaDau9UXfuxPDoS8EgyZhB-jT/view
– School Referenda Statistics https://cepr.indiana.edu/disr.html
– What do we know about property tax caps? (Skim this article, not a deep read) https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GTyPpovXCFqwTcfyYrnlNldA3Mr8jYvH/view?usp=sharing
3. Answer the questions below:
– You are a school principal who recognizes that you have trouble keeping staff because you pay $5,000 less for teachers with the same amount of experience than a neighboring district. Please discuss what options you would give to your superintendent on how to be more competitive in the labor market for teachers at your district.
– You are a school principal who recognizes that you have substandard facilities when compared to a neighboring district. Please discuss what options you would give to your superintendent on how to be more competitive in your district.
– You are a school principal who recognizes that you need to build in PLC time for your teachers but this involves adding time to the school day. Please discuss what options you would give to your superintendent on how to fund this at your district. Y
– You are a school principal who recognizes that you have trouble hiring noncertified staff because you pay $11/hour while the nearby fast food restaurants pay $15/hr. Please discuss what options you would give to your superintendent on how to be more competitive in the labor market for noncertified staff at your district.