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Explain why education administrators need to be prepared for change and adaptation in addressing the funding of public education.

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Research shows that funding in education directly impacts the economic success of our future and can assist with stabilizing the economy.  Many insist that an overhaul of the current system needs to happen in order to support all children and families and balance the inequities that continue to show up within our educational system.
Educational administrators need to be prepared and flexible surrounding the issue of equity, as it continues to be a main proponent of why our achievement gap continues to widen.  Understanding where funding comes from for our public school system and how we can best support student success should always be in the forefront of leadership.

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Explain why equity in education is so complex in New York. If you could design your own school in New York, how would you spend/allocate to promote equity?

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Ensuring that education is equitable for all students in the state of New York is a challenging task for a multitude of reasons.     While New York state public school funding is typically supported by a combination of state aid and local funding, property taxes continue to be the largest source of revenue.  This automatically puts students who are of lower socioeconomic status at a disadvantage.  The correlation between race and socioeconomic status continues to make it challenging to provide equity for all students.  Minorities continue to be impacted by low socioeconomic status.
Students who are identified as ELLs or Special education students also have required mandated services that often are not fully funded.
As a specialist in an elementary school, it is evident in kindergarten that students come into school with a variety of experiences, and the learning gaps are already present between children who are only five years of age. If I could start my own school, I would focus on early childhood that emulates the Boston BASICs program. This program focuses on five principles that families can promote from birth. This type of school would help bring students into the public setting on a more level playing field from the start.

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Describe a new school that you want to start and the programs you want to feature? Explain where you plan to get that funding?

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If I were to open up my own school, it would be catered specifically to students with learning disabilities.  As the years progress, it is evident that many bright and intelligent students struggle due to disabilities in the areas of reading and math.  Too often, the public schools system offers support but not enough to match the research based programs they are trained in and use.  The manpower to service the needs in a systematic way is just not always feasible in the public realm.  Too often students are shared between reading, math, speech, and other services where they are spread thin and are unable to miss core classes.  Along with this, they are unable to access grade level material without differentiating instruction.  This occurs with the best of teachers, yet it is not always the case.  Finally many of these students require movement, brain breaks, and time for extracurricular activities that they choose for success.  In my dream school, these would be available to them coinciding with their academic activities.

Building support in a team of like minded individuals who are looking for alternative schooling opportunities can help make the vision a reality.   Creating an advisory board of individuals who believe in your vision would be the first step.  Including people who are of business and financial backgrounds can assist with this task, especially when it comes time to develop a budget and business plan.  Line items are extremely important when developing this budget as well as marketing and promotion.  Opening your own school is a lot like opening a business, so it is important to research the risks and how to get the most funding possible.

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Discuss the importance of additional forms of supports to public schools.

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In order for public schools to function properly, there needs to be a successful connection with the school and the community.  A strong Board of Education that supports the vision of the school is also extremely important.  Many of the needs require funding which is not always available.
Public school funding is required for safety and maintenance of the buildings, support staff, technology, supplies, teacher pay, extracurricular activities, transportation, and more.  When schools do not have the ability to fund these line items, it contributes to inequities across schools and the nation.
Having connections within the community as well as access to grant writing are both important tools in order access additional funds that may support students needs.

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Discuss the importance of grant writing in your ideal school. Highlight specific areas of focus.

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In a world where public education is always looking for additional resources and funding, the ability to successfully write grants can assist with student success.  Many schools overlook this process mainly because they do not know the steps required.  For myself, this is one area I have unfortunately never had the opportunity to take advantage of but hope to in the near future.
One program that my current district used in the past was called STARs.  The purpose of the program is to use data to identify students who are on the cusp of being on grade level in reading and/or mathematics and provide them with extra support in the mornings.  This year we were unable to run the program due to the lack of transportation available as well as the need for resources and a clear focus.  If we were able to access funding or transportation through a grant, we may have had a better chance of keeping the program alive and accessible.
If I were the principal or instructional leader, the first step to writing a grant for the school would be to survey the staff and see who has grant writing experience.  From there, I would create a small committee of teachers interested in grant writing.  Depending on the experience level we would need to train this committee on how to best write grant proposals so they could gain confidence and have a plan prior to the application process.  I would reach out to our local resources such as Rockland BOCES to see if there are any conference opportunities available to send the team on.

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Describe how Special Education funding is distributed.

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Special education is funded both federally and by the state.  Most comes in the form of categorical aid.  Special education is federally funded but most likely supplemented by the state.  “For example, practically all school districts receive additional state funding for special education students who have qualifying physical, emotional, or learning disabilities,” (Howell & Miller, 11).  While this article dates back to 1997, the fact remains that supplemental funding is necessary in every state currently.

Federal special education funding comes from two sources: the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA).  While IDEA contributes to the majority of the funding, ESSA provides the categorical funding spoken about above.   While these acts provide some of the funding, they do not support all of the funding necessary to provide special education students with the services necessary.  This is where state funding comes in.  State funding varies depending on the tax structure for the district.  In New York State, the cost of living or local state tax in the big five city school districts supports some of the funding.  Disparities continue, but state equalization formulas such as STAR help to balance out inequities.  Even with the different sources of funding, funds for special education often miss the mark and are a topic in many campaigns.  The importance of going out to vote for local budgets to pass in districts continues to be of utmost importance.

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Debate the pros and cons of school choice.

School choice continues to be a debatable topic across the nation.  There are a considerable amount of variables that make it challenging to determine whether or not school choice is beneficial for students and families.  In the state of New York alone families have the choices between traditional public schools, public charter schools, public magnet schools, private schools, and homeschooling.  New York is not a voucher state which means there is no option for families to take the tax dollars usually set aside for public education to use towards their school of choice.  That being said, not all children have families who are able to advocate for, understand, or even are fully aware of school choice.  This alone creates a continued debate on its effectiveness.

Some pros for school choice include that education can be specific to a student’s needs (whether this be special education specific, academics/arts influenced, religious based, etc), it can provide students in low socioeconomic areas with the ability to obtain a high quality education if the public school is not strong, parental involvement may increase, as well as others.  The biggest push and sell for school choice is that public schools do not always reach all learners and school choice provides students of all ability levels with access to many opportunities.

The cons for school choice include the fact that money is taken away from public schools that are in need, lack of funding/staff for the private and charter schools which decreases the quality of education, lack of funding to support students with special needs and/or disabilities, and the lack of proof that students make more gains in other options of schooling versus public schooling.  It is evident that while the idea of school choice makes sense to support the variety of learners present in all schools, it is unclear if student needs can be supported elsewhere.  The system itself needs to be looked at as a whole in order to support all diverse learners and families.

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Reflect on the importance of HR budgeting in the success of an organization

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After our lengthy discussion, it became clear to me how important it is to have a strong Human Resources department or chair that is able to budget towards the success of any organization.  In education, it is extremely important to budget accordingly in order to ensure success for students and the organization.  There are many items that HR needs to be cognizant of that many people often overlook.

One obvious importance is knowing the number of new employees required for the next year.  This does not only include taking into account their salary, but also the benefits that go along with each hire.  Each year salaries increase along with benefits, so this is also important to take into consideration.  Human resources need to be aware of the vision and goals for the district when making decisions.  For example, if a goal for the district is to increase the success rate for ENL students, it is important for the budget to reflect personnel and resources that match this goal.  Oftentimes the board of education and various stakeholders have specific goals that drive the district.

Another important aspect of budgeting for human resources is ensuring money is set aside for proper training.  New teachers and veterans alike require training and are constantly learning.  With curriculum resources continuing to change, implementation requires that educators are trained to fully implement programs, interventions, and overall curriculum.  When teachers feel empowered, it directly impacts their students.

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Reflect on the significance of facilities budgeting, why do we need to know this?

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Facilities budgeting is of utmost importance for a variety of reasons.  First and foremost, education is already dealing with a limited budget that has many parameters.  An effective school building financial leader recognizes that the condition of the buildings need to be safe, sound, and secure due to the fact that this directly impacts the students and faculty.  Management and upkeep of buildings need to be factored into every yearly budget proposal.  This includes proper planning for minimal disruption and safety during school hours.

Many factors contribute to proper facility operations including ventilation, lighting, temperature, electrical work, and plumbing.  To address these issues, the school financial officer needs to ensure that buildings within the district are continuously monitored and prioritize needs.  Due to our nation's recent events with violence within schools and intrusions, many districts have made safety upon entrance  a top priority.  Older buildings were designed with many entrances and exits which has proven to create a more vulnerable atmosphere for students and staff.  Facilities budgets now often include upgrading the main entrances and door safety throughout districts as a main priority.

Ensuring the budget includes facilities management, upkeep, and condition requirements is a critical component of a school business leadership role.  The success of students and staff members depends on it.

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Reflect on the process of handling purchasing and cash receipts? Why is it important for school leaders to learn this?

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In all businesses, whether education or not, money handling is an activity that needs to be overseen by upper management.  In order for processes to run smoothly, a system needs to be in place that is clear and manageable.  Money management is where fraud can easily take place, so it is important that school leaders understand and sometimes manage the process.  Ultimately, it can be the school leader that takes financial responsibility for any mishaps so they must be aware of the process, the system, and who is responsible for each step.

By law, school districts are required to keep a system of accounting and are audited to ensure that money is being managed properly.  Along with this, many items are purchased to keep buildings running smoothly.  These items include school supplies, furniture, copiers, technology, food supplies, safety equipment, and much more.  School leaders, whether it be Principals and Assistant Principals within buildings or school district leadership staff, need to be aware of the system, procedures, and protocols.  All staff members should also be trained to ensure that the same message is being communicated throughout the district and key players involved are identified.

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Reflect on the importance of audits and how we can best prepare for them.

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Audits in education are important because it keeps the system honest and clean, or it is supposed to do these things.  Auditing can happen in a variety of areas that include but are not limited to finance, testing security, special education and intervention services, communication, and technology use.  Having auditors in place ensures that schools are accountable and transparent, especially when looking at finances due to the fact that we are using public funding to do our jobs.  In order to avoid any legal troubles, it is critical that systems are in place.

In order to prepare for audits, leadership teams should come together to ensure that systems are in place for each important task.  Once this is established and clearly outlined, the process and system should be communicated with staff and stakeholders.  Whether schools are audited internally or externally, this is a very important step to ensure that systems are in place to protect the district.  When auditors find mistakes, missing pieces of information, or lack of systems management and organization, they can provide insight and recommendations for future success.  Continuing to better the district as a whole is important.  Understanding the auditing process is important for all educational leadership.