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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?
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