I recently suggested to a group of education researchers they should develop some kind of algorithm to inflate charter school test scores according to each state’s gap in public funding between charters and district-run schools. I was kidding, but trying to acknowledge an elephant in the room. Whatever charter schools are accomplishing, they’re doing it on far less than district schools. Yet, because we believe all public school students should be funded equitably, we don’t argue that “we can do more for less” and we avoid blaming chronic underfunding for performance problems.
Not so in the other sector, it seems. For a new Fordham/NSBA study, Rick Hess and Olivia Meeks surveyed school board members and found this: “More than two-thirds of boards report that the budget and funding situation is extremely urgent, and nearly 90 percent think it is extremely or very urgent…By far, board members in this study report that the most significant barrier to improving student achievement is a lack of funding. Over 74 percent indicate that finance/funding is at least a strong barrier to improvement, with 30.2 percent going so far as to label it a total barrier.”
Wow. How long do you think the charter movement would last if nearly a third of our leaders just said nope, no can do, not without more money?
