Public School Budgets

As schools look at a variety of options to improve school and student performance, one variable consistently comes to the forefront – money. While many educators assert that bigger budgets could solve many of the problems in education today, politicians at all levels agree more money is probably not in the foreseeable future of most school districts across the country. In place of more funding, some areas are now looking at different ways to allocate the money that is currently available. Student-based funding is the new buzzword for school districts interested in getting the money to the schools and students who need it most. Now, Georgia is joining the student-based funding bandwagon.

What is Student-Based Funding?

Student-based funding is a method of allotting funding to school districts, and even individual schools, based on the needs of individual students. This contrasts with traditional school funding that is determined by educational programs, creating an average amount spent on every student within a given district. Proponents of student-based funding argue that traditional funding results in disparities throughout the educational system, as schools with high-need students are left wanting for resources. Student-based funding aims to reduce those disparities, without the need for additional money for which educators regularly champion.

This video offers a discussion of student-based funding.

According to the website for the Annenberg Institute for School Reform, student-based funding begins by assigning specific weights to

In response to numerous changes made to the Detroit Public School system this year, thousands of teachers in the district have received “pink slips” telling them they can reapply for their jobs this summer. With more than 4,000 teachers now unemployed for the upcoming school year, many are predicting that chaos will reign when students return to classrooms this fall. At the same time, district officials are attempting to reassure students and parents that the decision to lay off teachers is the best way to ensure they have sufficient teachers – and the right teachers – heading up classrooms at the beginning of the 2012-2013 school year.

"In this short video, Atlantic associate editor Alia Wong traces the history of Detroit Public Schools—from a model for urban education at the turn of the century to a failing, debt-ridden system today."

Changes to the District Prompt Layoffs

One reason for the mass layoff is the many changes the Detroit school system will face in the upcoming school year. A new system, the Educational Achievement Authority, has been put in place to deal with schools that are consistently unable to perform at state standards. Under this system, 15 Detroit schools are slated to switch districts for the next school year, removing those schools from the Detroit Public School system. All of those schools were classified as low-performing, according to state standards. This change involves approximately

With the first day of school still a clear memory and fall holidays right around the corner, the focus of many school districts is on a single obscure event that typically falls during the months of September or October. Count day is the one day of the school year that means everything to schools in terms of the amount of funding they receive. For every student that can be accounted for on this special day, funds are allotted for that school. During a time when school budgets are stretched well past their comfort levels, it is no wonder that count day is becoming bigger than any other day of the year for some school districts.

This video explains how student attendance affects school funding.

Why Count Day?

According to the Michigan state government website, count day is the day when all the public schools in the state total up all of the students attending their schools. The event also occurs in other states, like Colorado and Indiana. On this day, the number of students tallied adds up to direct funding for the school. For example, every student counted on count day in Colorado brings an additional $6,400 into the school in which he is enrolled, according to data in the Denver Post. In the Detroit Public School system, every student accounted for on count day means more than $7,000

With tighter budgets and fewer resources to draw from, many school districts have been forced to find more ways to trim the fat. One expense that has made its way to the chopping block in more than one district is transportation. While school buses have always been a given where students live too far to walk to school, that commodity is no longer a freebie for all school districts. In an effort to balance the books, schools are deciding to charge students for the privilege of riding a bus to and from school. However, the decision is accompanied by complaints and irate parents in most of the districts when the fees are announced. We’ll take a look at both sides of the pay-to-ride issue.

Franklin Township Now Outsourcing Transportation Needs

Franklin Township school system has been hit hard in the pocketbook with an $8 million budget shortfall for the upcoming school year. Instead of firing teachers and increasing class sizes, the school began charging parents to let students ride the bus to and from school. The charge for school bus privileges won’t be cheap – according to a report at the Indy Channel, the fee for bus service for a single student will be $475 annually. Additional children in the same family will get a discount, paying $405 per year for the same bus privileges.

The bus fee was on the table for the school district last year, but the idea was rejected after

Many educators and parents are fed up with the current state of public education and have decided to take matters into their own hands. To make their voices heard in state legislatures and Washington, they have invited all disgruntled with the school system to meet together this summer in Washington, D.C. The Save Our Schools March has been gaining steam since its inception a year ago, and now many local marches are planned across the country. We'll look at the purpose of the Save Our Schools March and why so many nationwide have become frustrated enough with public education to take a public stand.

What is the Save Our Schools March?

This movement has cumulated into the Save Our Schools March and National Call to Action, which began approximately one year ago. Many parents, students, educators, and community members have become increasingly frustrated with the No Child Left Behind Act, which went into effect ten years ago, and the more recent Race to the Top initiative by the Obama Administration. According to the organization's website, this group has seen the educational system transform into one that is primarily governed by test scores rather than real instruction.

Many in this movement have taken their concerns to state politicians, and some have even gone to Capitol Hill with their issues. However, they do not feel that anyone in a position to make the necessary changes has listened to their pleas. That is when the Save Our Schools March and