School Finance Systems and Their Responsiveness to Performance Pressures: A Case Study of North Carolina

Details the mechanisms of and influences on the state's school finance system, changes caused by increased performance pressures, local officials' views on alternative allocation of resources, and obstacles to linking resources to student learning

Reinventing Central Office

This report presents a provocative description of a school system where resources, authority, and accountability reside primarily at the school level

School Budgets and Student Achievement in California: The Principal's Perspective

Presents the results of workshops conducted with 45 elementary, middle, and high school principals from California public schools. Documents the variety of resource allocation strategies used by principals to maximize student academic performance

Negotiating the Great Recession: How Teacher Collective Bargaining Outcomes Change in Times of Financial Duress

This article examines how teacher collective bargaining agreements (CBAs), teacher salaries, and class sizes changed during the Great Recession. Using a district-level data set of California teacher CBAs that includes measures of subarea contract strength and salaries from 2005–2006 and 2011–2012 tied to district-level longitudinal data, we estimate difference-in-difference models to examine bargaining outcomes for districts that should have been more or less fiscally constrained. We find that unions and administrators change critical elements of CBAs and district policy during times of fiscal duress. This includes increasing class sizes, reducing instructional time, and lowering base salaries to relieve financial pressures and negotiating increased protections for teachers in areas with less direct financial implications, including grievance procedures and nonteaching duties

Smart School Budgeting: Resources for Districts

In an era of aggressive public education reform, school districts face increasing pressure to produce higher levels of student performance with increasingly limited resources. The economic downturn has forced many districts to tighten their belts, and careful thought must be given to how each and every dollar is spent. Optimally, district leaders should work with stakeholders in their communities to set goals, analyze current spending, provide transparency in their budgeting, and consider cost-saving and reallocation strategies. The Rennie Center has created a toolkit, Smart School Budgeting: Resources for Districts, aiming to assist district leaders in decision-making about school budgeting. Smart School Budgeting is intended to push school leaders to take a more deliberative approach to school budgeting. The resources presented in the toolkit act as a starting point for districts examining their own budgeting processes. The document is designed as a user-friendly summary of existing literature and tools on school finance, budgeting, and resource allocation that directs district leaders and school business officials to practical and useful information to shape resource decisions. Each section includes an overview of a critical topic in school budgeting, summaries of useful documents and resources, relevant case studies (if available), and a resource list with hyperlinked documents for easy access. The toolkit is organized around the following topics: introduction and context for school budget analysis; setting goals; types of budgets; strategies for analyzing spending; tools for budget analysis; and cost-saving strategies.This toolkit was released at a public event on October 3, 2012

For the Public Good: Quality Preparation for Every Teacher

The goal is to ensure that teachers enter the profession ready for the demands of the 21st-century classroom. The first report from Bank Street College of Education's Sustainable Funding Project  looks at ways of reaching that goal through yearlong co-teaching experiences, commonly referred to as residencies, in classroom settings with experienced mentors.The report—"For the Public Good: Quality Preparation for Every Teacher"—also identifies public funding streams to support residency programs nationwide and outlines how teacher preparation providers and school districts can establish mutually beneficial partnerships to support high-quality teacher preparation

School Finance Systems and Their Responsiveness to Performance Pressures: A Case Study of Texas

Details the mechanisms of and influences on the state's school finance system, changes caused by increased performance pressures, local officials' ability to allocate resources as deemed appropriate, and obstacles to linking resources to student learning

Seizing Opportunity at the Top: How the U.S. Can Reach Every Student With an Excellent Teacher

Explains how to provide excellent teachers for every child every year by better identifying excellent teachers, removing policy barriers so they can teach more students for more pay, and catalyzing schools' and districts' will to put them in charge

Performance Pressure and Resource Allocation in Washington

Based on interviews with state, district, and school officials, explores how performance pressures have changed resource allocation decisions. Examines reform goals and how Washington's finance system impedes efforts to link resources to student learning

Gender Matters: An Analysis of the 2012-2013 Texas State Budget

Gender Matters focuses on the impacts of Texas fiscal policy on the health, safety, education and economic security of women and girls. The report, researched by the Center for Public Policy Priorities for the Dallas Women's Foundation, identifies intervention points and considers actions needed to improve outcomes for women and girls in TX