Schoolhouses, Courthouses, and Statehouses: Solving the Funding-Achievement Puzzle in America's Public Schools

432 Pages·2009·2.56 MB·English

by  Eric A. Hanushek, Alfred A. Lindseth

Schoolhouses,
Courthouses,
and Statehouses
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Schoolhouses,
Courthouses,
and Statehouses
SOLVING THE
FUNDING-ACHIEVEMENT
PUZZLE IN AMERICA’S
PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Eric A. Hanushek
and
Alfred A. Lindseth
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS PRINCETON AND OXFORD
COPYRIGHT ” 2009 BY PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
Published by Princeton University Press,
41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540
In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press,
6 Oxford Street, Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1TW
All Rights Reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hanushek, Eric Alan, 1943–
Schoolhouses, courthouses, and statehouses : solving the funding-achievement
puzzle in America’s public schools / Eric A. Hanushek and Alfred A. Lindseth.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-691-13000-2 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Public schools—United States—Finance. 2. Academic achievement—
United States. I. Lindseth, Alfred A. II. Title.
LB2825.H25 2009
379.1’220973—dc22 2008053718
British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available
This book has been composed in Sabon
Printed on acid-free paper. f
press.princeton.edu
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
List of Illustrations ix
List of Tables xiii
Preface xv
Introduction 1
1. Just How Important Is Education? 10
Education and Financial Achievement 11
Education and Poverty 15
Education and the Nation’s Economic Well-Being 16
Testing Student Skills 20
Quality of U.S. Colleges 21
2. U.S. Education at a Crossroads 23
Years of School Completed 23
Achievement Levels (or the Mastery of Cognitive Skills) 29
International Comparisons 36
Achievement Gaps 38
3. The Political Responses 44
Increased Spending and Resources for K–12 Education 45
Increased Equity in Funding for K–12 Education 57
The Standards and Accountability Movement 71
Increased School Choice Options 76
Teacher Certification 80
Conclusions 82
4. Court Interventions in School Finance 83
Federal Desegregation Litigation and
Milliken II Remedies 84
“Equity” Cases 88
“Adequacy” Cases 95
vi CONTENTS
5. Practical Issues with Educational Adequacy 118
Defining an “Adequate” Education 118
The Element of Causation 129
Problems Relating to Remedy 136
Problems Inherent in the Makeup and
Processes of the Courts 139
6. The Effectiveness of Judicial Remedies 145
Kentucky 147
Wyoming 151
New Jersey 157
Massachusetts 166
7. Science and School Finance Decision Making 171
A Simple Decision Model 172
How Much Is Enough? 173
How Should the Money Be Spent? 200
Using Science More Effectively 211
8. A Performance-Based Funding System 217
Guiding Principles: Back to Basics 218
A Performance-Based Funding System 219
Big City Schools 258
Conclusions 260
9. Making Performance-Based Funding a Reality 263
The Persistence of Illusory Spending Solutions 263
Support for the Status Quo and Resistance
to Change 268
Some Current Countervailing Forces 275
Encouraging True Reform: Mutually Agreed Bargains 279
Changing the Focus of the Courts 281
Mobilizing for the Future 287
Notes 291
Legal Citations 353
CONTENTS vii
Federal Court Cases
(arranged in alphabetical order) 353
State Court Cases
(arranged by state and, within states, chronologically) 354
Sources for Figures and Tables 361
References 363
Index 395
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Figures
1.1 Effect of Economic Growth on U.S. Income 17
1.2 Equalling Canadian Achievement: U.S. Growth
Dividend vs. K–12 Expenditure 20
2.1 U.S. Graduation Rates, by Race 24
2.2 High School/College Completion Rates and
College Attendance Rates, Ages 25–29 25
2.3 Completion of Secondary School:
World Rankings, 2003 27
2.4 Expected Total Years of School Completion,
Including Higher Education: World Rankings, 2003 28
2.5 NAEP Long-Term Trends in Reading Scores,
1969–2004 31
2.6 NAEP Long-Term Trends in Math Scores, 1973–2004 32
2.7 NAEP Long-Term Trends in Science Scores, 1969–99 33
2.8 Mathematics Average Scores, PISA, 2003 37
2.9 White-Black Achievement Gap, Long-Term Trends
in NAEP Reading Scores 39
2.10 White-Black Achievement Gap, Long-Term Trends
in NAEP Math Scores 40
2.11 Trends in White-Black Achievement Gap for
Seventeen-Year-Olds (in standard deviations) 41
2.12 White-Hispanic Achievement Gap, Long-Term Trends
in NAEP Reading Scores 42
2.13 White-Hispanic Achievement Gap, Long-Term
Trends in NAEP Math Scores 43
3.1 Spending Per Pupil in United States, 1960–2005
(adjusted for inflation) 46
3.2 Cumulative Per-Pupil Expenditures for K–12 Education
in United States and Other Developed Countries, 2001 46
3.3 Enrollment and Instructional Staff Trends, 1920–2004 50
3.4 Sources of Revenue for Schools, 1920–2000 62