Equity and Adequacy: A Funding Crisis in the Tennessee Education System. PDF
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East Tennessee State University Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University Electronic Theses and Dissertations Student Works 12-2004 Equity and Adequacy: A Funding Crisis in the Tennessee Education System. Scott F. Collins East Tennessee State University Follow this and additional works at:https://dc.etsu.edu/etd Part of theEducational Administration and Supervision Commons Recommended Citation Collins, Scott F., "Equity and Adequacy: A Funding Crisis in the Tennessee Education System." (2004).Electronic Theses and Dissertations.Paper 951. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/951 This Dissertation - Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Works at Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. For more information, please [email protected]. Equity and Adequacy: A Funding Crisis in the Tennessee Education System A dissertation presented to the faculty of the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis East Tennessee State University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor in Education by Scott F. Collins December 2004 Dr. Louise MacKay, Chair Dr. Cecil Blankenship Dr. Terry Tollefson Dr. Russell West Keywords: General and Efficient, Uniform, Equitable Allocation, Reasonably Equal, Vertical Equity, Equal Opportunity to a Quality Education, Adequate ABSTRACT Equity and Adequacy: A Funding Crisis in the Tennessee Education System by Scott F. Collins Tennessee is experiencing a budget crisis related to the dollar amount per-pupil expended on kindergarten- through 12th-grade education when compared to other states. Public schools across America are operating in a time of increased expectations. Recent legislative initiatives at both the state and federal level have created new systems of testing and performance standards that will hold schools and teachers accountable for students' achievement. Given the rapid changes that are being made, many state policymakers have noted the importance of designing better financial schemes for public schools with sufficient resources to meet the demand for better education; however, funding and accountability are difficult when creating an alignment between the two. Issues surrounding the financing of public education are complicated. Whereas a quality education is universally understood to be an essential component of students' development and social mobility, the specific policies surrounding the allocation of funds to school districts in Tennessee are complex and based on formulas that are often only understood by experts. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the perceptions of various school directors and administrators in both small and large systems across the state as to the best way to fund kindergarten- through 12th-grade education in a more adequate and equitable manner. Data were collected through audio-taped interviews and transcribed for inductive analysis. 2 The participants' perceptions about their level of satisfaction of the current Basic Education Program's (BEP) funding of kindergarten- through 12th-grade education in Tennessee were very favorable. Fewer than 90% of school district officials agreed that there should be an established set of criteria that define a standard of adequacy. Because some schools need more money than others do, participants said this inability to raise sufficient revenue must be addressed through state legislation. All 20 participants stated that equity and adequacy remained a problem in the BEP and each gave suggestions and identified some areas in which to begin correcting the discrepancies. All 20 participants said that they thought the BEP was a much better funding mechanism, overall, than the old Tennessee Foundation Program (TFP) for both large and small systems. 3 Copyright 2004 by Scott F. Collins All Rights Reserved 4 DEDICATION This study is dedicated to my family, to my children, Chelcea and Lindsy, and to my parents, Coy and Winnie. Thank you for your support and encouragement, but most of all your love. I realize how blessed I am to have a family who is willing to let me be all I can be. To my children, I pray that you will always set your goals very high and work hard to achieve them. Your daddy will most certainly be your biggest fan and be proud of you always! 5 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS What a blessing I have had from so many people who supported me throughout this process. It certainly would not have been possible without the encouragement of my family’s love and patience. I thank my children, Chelcea and Lindsy, and my parents, Coy and Winnie Collins, for pushing me to do it. Total commitment and endurance are the keys to getting through such a program. I appreciate all of my friends for believing in me and providing a gentle word of encouragement just when I needed it most. I must thank my friends in the cohort program for helping me get through some very difficult times and to my friend, Greg, who every Monday night, crossed the mountain and gave me encouragement to continue. I thank you for this! Finally, I want to thank the dedicated faculty of the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at East Tennessee State University. I am grateful to you for providing me with the learning experiences in the program that will be useful throughout the rest of my career. I have the greatest respect for my committee members, Dr. Louise MacKay, Dr. Terry Tollefson, Dr. Cecil Blankenship, and Dr. Russell West. I extend a special thanks to my chairperson and advisor, Dr. Louise MacKay, from whom I have learned so much. I appreciate her suggestions, feedback, and her patience so much. Lastly, I must thank Dr. Ronald Lindahl, who, during the screening process, kept pushing me to be in the program and Dr. Russell Mays, who always gave me encouragement. I cannot express enough gratitude to my friend, Debby Bryan, who typed all my interviews. Had it not being for her expertise and professionalism in helping me with this dissertation, it would have been a nightmare. Again, thanks to all of you for your help! 6 CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................. 2 DEDICATION.................................................................................................................. 5 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS................................................................................................. 6 Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 11 Definitions of Terms.............................................................................................. 13 Statement of the Problem....................................................................................... 15 Research Questions................................................................................................ 16 Limitations and Delimitations................................................................................. 17 Overview of the Study........................................................................................... 17 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE.................................................................................... 19 Introduction........................................................................................................... 19 Definition of Equity and Adequacy........................................................................ 19 Legislative Responsibilities.................................................................................... 21 Cost to Local Governments................................................................................... 22 Formation of Tennessee School Systems for Equity............................................... 23 The Extent of Financial Disparity........................................................................... 25 Remedying Fiscal Equity Problems........................................................................ 25 Early Supreme Court Cases................................................................................... 27 Factual Patterns for Litigation................................................................................ 29 7 Chapter Page The Legal Basis for School Finance Litigation....................................................... 30 Property Tax Reform............................................................................................. 31 Tax Reform Issues................................................................................................. 33 Tennessee’s System of Taxation............................................................................ 34 Tax Resistance to Support the Plan........................................................................ 37 Room to Improve.................................................................................................. 38 Spending and Students' Performance...................................................................... 38 Students' Performance: Raising the Bar.................................................................. 39 An Overview of Kindergarten- Through 12th-Grade Education Finance................. 41 Money and Public Schools: How Much Does it Cost?............................................ 41 Determining Funding Formulas for Public Schools................................................. 43 Flat Grant........................................................................................................ 43 Power Equalization.......................................................................................... 44 Foundation Plan............................................................................................... 44 Full State Funding............................................................................................ 45 Summary............................................................................................................... 46 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY............................................................................... 48 Research Design.................................................................................................... 48 Selection of a Research Paradigm..................................................................... 48 Population and Sample.......................................................................................... 50 Data Collection...................................................................................................... 50 Data Analysis......................................................................................................... 51 4. ANALYSIS OF DATA............................................................................................. 53 Levels of Satisfaction With BEP Funding............................................................... 56 8 Chapter Page Distribution of BEP Funds: Adequacy and Equity.................................................. 72 Perceptions of Success of the BEP......................................................................... 77 Perceptions of the Strengths and Weaknesses of the BEP....................................... 83 Effects of the No Child Left Behind Act on the BEP.............................................. 87 Relationship Between School Funding and Students' Performance.......................... 91 Attracting and Retaining Highly-Qualified Teachers............................................... 97 Obligation of the State and Local Districts in Funding Education........................... 103 Participants' Overall Assessment of the BEP.......................................................... 108 Suggestions for Improvement of the BEP.............................................................. 111 5. FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PRACTICE AND FUTURE RESEARCH.................................................................................... 114 Findings................................................................................................................. 115 Levels of Satisfaction With BEP Funding......................................................... 116 Distribution of Funds: Adequacy and Equity.................................................... 117 Perceptions of Success of the BEP................................................................... 118 Perceptions of the Strengths and Weaknesses of the BEP................................. 119 Effects of the No Child Left Behind Act on the BEP......................................... 119 Relationship Between School Funding and Students' Performance.................... 120 Improving and Retaining Strong Highly-Qualified Teachers............................. 121 Obligation of the State and Local Districts in Funding Education...................... 122 Participants' Overall Assessment of the BEP..................................................... 123 Suggestions for Improvement of the BEP......................................................... 123 Conclusions........................................................................................................... 123 Equity.............................................................................................................. 123 Adequacy......................................................................................................... 124 9
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