S. Hrg. 103-254 ^ \ AN EXAMINATION OF THE FEDERAL ROLE IN SCHOOL nNANCE V4.L 11/4;S. HRG. 103-254 «• Exaninatlo. of He feier.l Rol»... HEARINGS BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, AETS AND HUMANITIES OFTHE COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND HUMAN RESOURCES UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED THIRD CONGRESS FIRST SESSION ON EXAMINING THE NEED FOR SCHOOL FINANCE REFORM, FOCUSING ON THE ADEQUACY OF EDUCATIONAL FINANCE IN THE UNITED STATES AND ITS EFFECT ON THE QUALITY OF EDUCATION JULY 26, 27, AND AUGUST 3, 1993 F*rinted for the use of the Committee on Labor and Human Resources % U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING 0¥¥\Q,Yr>r}^Oi. 7»-361c« WASraN(7rrO»NM •: i1Q9c9»3 ^fhf»>.t^<>fty- ' *iA,^yVt ForsalebytheU.S.GovernmentPrintingOffice 'Oy> » SuperintendentofDocuments,CongressionalSalesOffice,Washington,DC 20402 ^/ff ISBN 0-16-041731-7 ^^ S. Hrg. 103-254 AN EXAMINATION OF THE FEDERAL ROLE IN SCHOOL HNANCE V4.L 11/4;S. HRG. 103-254 fti ExininatioB of tie Federal Role... HEARINGS BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, ARTS AND HUMANITIES OFTHE COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND HUMAN RESOURCES UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED THIRD CONGRESS FIRST SESSION ON EXAMINING THE NEED FOR SCHOOL FINANCE REFORM, FOCUSING ON THE ADEQUACY OF EDUCATIONAL FINANCE IN THE UNITED STATES AND ITS EFFECT ON THE QUALITY OF EDUCATION JULY 26, 27, AND AUGUST 3, 1993 Printed for the use of the Committee on Labor and Human Resources -^J^Gf; U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OVnCY^'O^Ojj. 73-361ee WASHINGrrON : 1993 ^-^*rS ForsalebytheU.S.GovernmentPrintingOffice ^f^L SuperintendentofDocuments,CongressionalSalesOffice,Washington,DC 20402 Q*> COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND HUMAN RESOURCES EDWARD M. KENNEDY, Masflachuaetts. Chairman CLAIBORNE PELL. Rhode Island NANCY LANDON KASSEBAUM, Kansaa HOWARD M. METZENBAUM. Ohio JAMES M. JEFFORDS, Vermont CHRISTOPHERJ. DODD, Connecticut DANCOATS, Indiana PAUL SIMON, Illinoia JUDD GREGG, New Hampshire TOM HARKIN, Iowa STROM THURMOND, South Carolina BARBARA A. MIKULSKI, Maryland ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah JEFF BINGAMAN, New Mexico DAVE DURENBERGER. Minnesota PAUL D. WELLSTONE, Minnesota HARRIS WOFFORD, Pennsylvania NlCR LlTTLKFlELD, StaffDirectorand ChiefCountel Susan K. HatTAN, MinorityStaffDirector SUBCOMMnTEB ON EDUCATION, ARTS AND HUMANITIES CLAIBORNE PELL, Rhode Island, Chairman HOWARD M. METZENBAUM, Ohio JAMES M. JEFFORDS, Vermont CHRISTOPHERJ. DODD, Connecticut NANCY LANDON KASSEBAUM, Kansas PAUL SIMON, Illinois DAN COATS. Indiana BARBARAA. MIKULSKI, Maryland JUDD GREGG, New Hampshire JEFF BINGAMAN, New Mexico STROM THURMOND, South Carolina EDWARD M. KENNEDY, Massachusetts ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah PAUL D. WELLSTONE, Minnesota DAVE DURENBERGER, New Mexico HARRIS WOFFORD, Pennsylvania TOM HARKIN, Iowa David V. Evans, StaffDirector Pam Devitt. MinorityPrvfeMiionalStaff ai) (\ ^ CONTENTS STATEMENTS July 26, 1993 Page Pell, Hon. Claiborne, aU.S. SenatorfromtheStateofRhode Island 1 HDiocdkdr,odH,onG..ChArlains,topphroefreJs.s,ora,U.IlSl.inSoeisnaSttoartefrUonmivtehresiSttya,teSopfriCnognfnieecldt,icuILt; Enc 2 A. Hanushek, professor ofeconomics and public policy. University ofRoch- ester, Rochester, NY; Ronald F. Ferguson, associate professor, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Canonridge, MA; and Landa Trentham, professor. AuburnUniversity,Auburn, AL 4 Prepared statements: Mr. Hickrod(with an attachment) 7 Mr. Hanushek 1° Ms. Trentham 36 Jeffords,Hon.JamesM., aU.S. Senatorfromthe State ofVermont 49 Benson, Charles S., professor ofeducation. University ofCaUfomia at Berke- ley, Berkeley, CA; Robert Berne, associate dean. School of Public Service, New York University, New York, NY, and Albert Cortez, Intercultural DevelopmentResearchAssociation, SanAntonio, TX 50 Preparedstatements: Mr. Benson °2 Mr. Berne ^oo Mr. Cortez July 27, 1993 Dodd, Hon. ChristopherJ., aU.S. Senatorfromthe StateofConnecticut 79 Jeffords, Hon.JamesM., aU.S. Senatorfromthe State ofVermont 80 Simon, Hon. Paul, aU.S.SenatorfromtheState ofIllinois 81 Romer, Roy, Governor, State of Colorado, Boulder, CO, on behalf of the National Governors'Association, prepared statement 82 Jadcson, Thomas C, member, board of education, New HaveMnD, CT; and Sedonia Williamson, teacher, Douglas HighSchool, Baltimore, 98 Odden, Allan, Center forResearch in EducationFinance, University ofSouth- em California, Los Angeles, CA;HenryJ. Aaron, director, EconomicStudies Program, Brookings Institution, Washington, DC; and Doug Chiappetta, internal manager, Vermont DepartmentofEducation, Montpeuer, VT 112 r*reparedstatements: Mr. Odden }JJ Mr.Aaron 124 Mr. Chiappetta(withattachments) 129 AUGUOT 3, 1993 Wellstone,Hon. Paul D., aUJS. Senatorfromthe State ofMinnesota 145 Bingaman, Hon. Jeff, a\JJS. Senatorfromthe State ofNewMexico 146 Schmoke, Kurt L., mayor, city of Baltimore, Baltimore, MD; the Honorable Xavier Becerra, a Menier of Congress from the State of California; and Bill L. Taylor, attorney,Washington, DC W7 Prepared statements: MayorSchmoke }50 Mr. Bacerra |58 Mr.Taylor 168 (III) IV Pa»B Fernandez, Joseph A., president, Council ofthe Great City Sdiools, Washing- ton, DC:Marimi Nfomauser, director. Education Law Center, Inc., NewarK, NJ; and Maiimi Gittell, Howard Samuels State Management and Policy Center, The City University of New Yoric Graduate School, New York, NY 182 Preparedstatements: A&.Fernandez(withan attachment) 185 Ms. Morhauser(withan attachment) 196 Ms. Gittell 214 Alexander, Kern, Viivinia Pblytechnic Institute and State University, Rich- mond, VA: Joe Natnan, director, Center for Sdiool Change, Minneapolis, MN; and Paula J. Prahl, MdiNrector ofeducation policy, Minnesota Business Partnership,Minneapolis, 230 Mr.Alexander 237 Mr.Nathan 274 Ms.Prahl 282 CIV) SCHOOL FE^ANCE: AN OVERVIEW MONDAY, JULY 26, 1993 U.S. Senate, Subcommittee on Education, Arts and Humanities, of THE Committee on Labor and Human Resources, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:05 p.m., in room SD-430, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Senator Pell (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Senators Pell, Dodd, and Jeffords. Opening Statement of Senator Pell Senator Pell. The subcommittee will come to order. This marks the first in a series of subcommittee hearings on the difficult issue of school finance. Today we will look into the broad question of whether or not there should be a Federal role in edu- cation finance, and if so, what should that role be and how much do we expect to be accomplished at the Federal level. During committee consideration of the Goals 2000: Educate America Act, seversd subcommittee members expressed strong in- terest in school finance. These hearings are the result ofthat inter- est. This afternoon's hearing will be followed by a hearing tomor- row morning to be chaired by Senator Dodd. It will focus on how we pay for our schools. On August 3, Senator Wellstone will chair a hearing to give us a grassroots perspective on equity in edu- cation; and Senator Simon will chair a field hearing in Illinois in the near future, and we are working with Senator Bingaman to ac- complish his interests in a hearing perhaps in New Mexico. Clearly, the primary vehicle for considering the Federal role in school finance is the upcoming reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. What we ultimate decide or decide not to do in this area will be done within the context of that reau- thorization and that reauthorization alone. Let me make clear that I have no preconceived position with re- spect to this issue. We are all aware of the complexity issue from State to State, and within the States, from community to commu- nity. I am equally aware that there are no easy answers. I know I speak for all my colleagues when I say that we are ready to learn more about this issue, and that we look to our witnesses not only to add to the store ofour knowledge but also to counsel and advise us on how to proceed. This is without question one ofthe most per- plexing and difficult questions confronting education today and one that we must examine with thoughtful and careful consideration. (1) 2 I look forward to what we will learn today and the hearings to come. I will now turn to Senator Dodd. Opening Statement of Senator Dodd Senator Dodd. Let me first of all begin by thanking you, Mr. Chairman. The distinguished chairman of the Subcommittee on Education has been a leader in creative ideas in education probably for longer than he c£ires to remember. But as I have often said long after we have all completed our service here, the name ofClaiborne Pell will go down in mstory as one ofour countr5r's most innovative and creative thinkers in terms of educational poUcy. There are Ut- erally thousands ofpeople today in the United States who are get- ting a better education because ofthings like the Pell Grant. Given this history of leadership, it is not unexpected that the distin- guished senior Senator from Rhode Island would be taking the lead on an issue like this, which is one ofthe most perplexing problems, as he has said, facing our local communities and our States. Mr. Chairman, just a few other thoughts, if I could. We begin today a very important series ofhearings on school finance, and I look forward to being deeply involved in the discussion as to how we in the Federal Government might play a constructive role. This subject has been overlooked, in mv view, for too many years o—n the national level as our States and local schools have struggled and "struggled" is hardly an adequ—ate word to describe what has gone on at tne State and local level ^to try to come up with needed dol- lars to support their educational efforts. We often begin hearings on complex problems with a draft piece of legislation before us, our first cut, ff vou would, at a solution. That is normally how hearings are conoucted. But today we are l^oing to begin a very different process. All ofus want to rectify the inequities in the current system and improve education for all chil- dren. But fi'ankly, the best way to get there fi'om here is unclear in this Senator's mind. Despite the fact that I know where Fd like to end up, I am not sure how we get there. So to some extent, we start with a clean slate. I don't bring any baggage to this debate. I don't have a preconceived idea and notion, nor do, I think, most ofmy colleagues on the committee. It is not clear, in my view, what the Federal role should be in this effort. Federal resources are limited. Everyone knows that. Today the Federal Government contributes only 6 percent of the dollars spent on elementary and secondary education. But while the solutions are unclear, we can't forget what this is all about. It is about our children. Last week this committee heard compelling testimony from Joycelyn Elders about the importance of safeg^uarding our children, our countp^'s most precious resource. Whether children become drugs statistics or dropout statistics, they are still lost to all of us. At its very core, school finance is fun- damentally about children. If we stop putting a Federal label on them, a State label on them, a local jurisdiction label on them, and think about them as just children who have needs and about how we take whatever resources are available and start focusing them on the needs of children, regardless of some arbitrary, politically drawn boundary, then I think we might come to some answers about this problem a little more readily, without the clutter of po- litical definitions. I make a practice oftrying to visit a high school in my State each week when I am home. I have visited with students from every, single pubHc high school in my State in the last 10 years, so stu- dents can have the chance to see their United States Senator and talk with me. At each school, I have met bright, talented young people. But the disparities I have seen in my own small State of Connecticut are alarming. In fact, in some cases, they are abso- lutely incredible when you consider the short distance, indeed walking distance, between some ofthe most incredible high schools in this country in terms of opportunity, and some of the most des- perate in terms of need. The contrast is glaring. There are public high schools in my State that would literally stand up against a lot of college campuses, and that is not an exaggeration. They have beautifully manicured lawns, state-of-the-art Tabs, diverse course offerings, incredible athletic facilities. And then there are some, only miles away, that are struggling with old, deteriorating build- ings. I remember I went into one school not long £^o on a rainy day, and rain was pouring through the leaky ceiling into the recep- tion areajust in front oftiie principal's office. My sister teaches in the largest inner city elementary school in my State in Hartford. I was with her not too long ago when she was out, doing some shopping, and she said she had to get some things for school. And when I asked her, "What do you need?" she said, "I've got to—get pencils and paper and toilet paper." And I am not exaggerating ^because there are not enough resources for those basic needs. And she is dealing with the youngest of our children, 3-, 4-, 5- and 6-year-olds in early childhood development programs. So, mv sister, a teacher in one of our most affluent States, goes out, ana with her own resources out of her own pocket, buys pen- cils, and paper and toilet paper for her students. I don't know of anyone in this country who would be proud to think that sort of thing happens. And yet it does, every, single day. Teachers buy basic supplies, roofs leak, and children s education suffers. And it isn't just my State. Across the countrv, there are similar disparities. Our system oflocal financing for scnools seems to have failed to deal with this problem, and our children pay the price for this failure in lower achievement, poor attendance and lost poten- tial. These days, we are asking much of our schools and much of our children in the form of higher standards, goals, and new assess- ments. Our childi^n are the economic building blocks, and we are We demanding Uiat they be strong and prepared for the future. must make sure that we are a partner in this effort. I believe that means we must deal with the tJiomy issue of school financing and some—how provide our schools with necessary resources. That is all ofus ^notjust those ofus here at the Federal level. I look forward to these hearings, which I believe will begin that critical process. Our witnesses today include some ofthose few who have carefully studied this problem, and I look forward to your tes- timony. Tomorrow, we will continue our work on this important issue at a hearing that I will be chairing. Governor Romer of Colo- rado will join us, along with expert witnesses, and several individ- uals who must face inequities every day in their schools. So, Mr. Chairman, I will close where I began. I thank vou for your involvement and concern on this issue, and hopefully, through this process we may be able to start coming up with some real an- swers to get away from what I would describe as sort of a "civil war" environment, where we pit suburban parents and families against urban and rural. We are never going to solve the problem by having one side or the other "win**, if you will. Although, were any side to win, I think we would all be the losers. But ifwe could get everyone to start thinking about how to deal with this problem without ttireatening staggeringly higher taxes or threatening any- one's sense of security about where they live and where their kids go to school, then I think we can begin to come up with some an- swers here. If this hearing process turns into an "us versus them" debate, then we aren't going to be any further along in this discus- sion or in reaching a resolution than we ever were. So, speaking just for myself, I am truly interested in having us try to bring a community together here, and not hear about the re- criminations and finger-pointing that are so much associated with this eflFort and that have created so many problems in the past. So again, I thank our witnesses for being here today, and Mr. Chairman, I really look forward to the testimony and the process over the next number ofmonths. Senator Pell. Thank you very much indeed, particularly for your nice words, for which I am grateful. We shall turn now to our panel and start off with Dr. G. Alan Hickrod, Professor at Illinois State University. STATEMENTS OF G. ALAN HICKROD, PROFESSOR, DJLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY, SPRINGFIELD, IL; ERIC A. HANUSHEK, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS AND PUBLIC POLICY, UNIVER- SITY OF ROCHESTER, ROCHESTER, NY; RONALD F. FER- GUSON,ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, JOHN F. KENNEDY SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT, CAMBRIDGE, MA;AND LANDATRENTHAM, PROFESSOR,AUBURNUNIVERSITY,AUBURN,AL Mr. Hickrod. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My name is Alan Hickrod, and I am a Distinguished Professor am of Educational Administration at Illinois State University. I also the director for the Center of Educational Finance at ISU and a past president of the American Educational Finance Association, as are several that you will hear this afternoon. As Senator Dodd has indicated, differences in expenditure levels between school districts have been with us for a very long period of time. The earliest study that I know of goes back to the end of the 19th century in Massachusetts, in 1890, when they were ex- ploring differences in expenditure per pupil. There were also a number ofstudies conducted in the 1920's, including a very famous one in Illinois that talks about huge differences in expenditure per pupil between school districts, and the date is 1922. So this has been around for quite a period oftime. I think a new development, however, is in the fact that these ex- penditures per pupil are now growing with the passage of time.