In the varied universe of education reforms, one of the more recent and interesting is "weighted student formula." My colleague Lisa Snell put together a very interesting FAQ on this issue, using Indiana as an example.
1. In a nutshell, what is "weighted student formula"?
The broad concept of weighted student funding
(WSF) goes by several names including results-based budgeting,
student-based budgeting, "backpacking" or fair-student funding.
It proposes a system of school funding based on five key principles:
- Funding should follow the child, on a per-student basis, to the public school that he or she attends.
- Per-student funding should vary according to the child's need and other relevant circumstances.
- Funding should arrive at the school as real dollars—not as teaching
positions, ratios, or staffing norms—that can be spent flexibly, with
accountability systems focused more on results and less on inputs,
programs, or activities.
- Principles for allocating money to schools should apply to all levels of funding, including federal, state, and local dollars.
- Funding systems should be as simple as possible and made transparent to administrators, teachers, parents, and citizens.
2. How is this different from funding schools based on enrollment in the current system?
In the current system in Indiana school
corporations receive funds based on the number of children enrolled in
a corporation and their individual characteristics which are weighted
through either categorical programs for education programs or
additional funding for student characteristics such as poverty or
English learner status.
However, at the district level these resources
are not allocated to schools based on individual student
characteristics. Schools in Indianapolis, for example, are allocated
resources for staffing positions based on the number of full-time
equivalent (FTE) salaries the district has calculated that an
individual school is entitled to. So when you examine individual school
budgets in Indiana you see money flowing to school positions and not
children.
Salary averaging across schools means individual
schools with similar student populations may receive vastly different
real dollar amounts at the school level within a corporation.
New York City public schools are implementing
weighted student formula district wide, encompassing 1.1 million
students in 1,400 schools. New York City schools begin the transition
to Fair Student Funding during their 2007-08 fiscal year. Here is an
actual example of how funding would change for the Walter Crowley
Intermediate School in Queens, New York, between the 2006-2007 and
2007-2008 budget years.
Under the old approach, Walter Crowley would have
received $4 million for instructional programs, $1.2 million for
special needs students, and another $1.9 million for "consolidate
programs," for a total budget of $7.1 million. Under the weighted, Fair
Student Formula approach, Walter Crowley will receive $8.8 million. In
short, funding students based on their individual characteristics and
not based on a staffing model increases the school's budget by more
than $1.6 million.
Since New York City public schools are phasing in
the new funding approach, Walter Crowley will only receive a portion of
the new formula. However, the new weighted student budgeting also
creates transparency by showing what resources each of the 1,400
schools in New York City are entitled to based on the characteristics
of their students, not based on a bureaucratic staffing model unrelated
to the actual students in the classroom. These numbers simplify the
budget process in a way that is transparent to parents and all
education stakeholders.
Read the rest of the FAQ
here.