Fair Student Funding

The topic of Fair Student Funding has been on the minds and lips of many of us as this year winds to a close and we prepare for next year. Fair Student Funding, transferring control over monetary spending from North Avenue to principals, is quite scary, especially when more power is going to people who are not prepared to handle it. Each student will receive about $9,100 on average, when all funds are calculated. This sum includes staff, services, and school supplies. Now, principals will have the control over how much money will go to each service. In a recent newsletter written by Dr. Alonso to BCPSS parents, “Great Kids: Great Schools,” parents read that, “Principals are the key decision-makers for students and schools, and are fully responsible for student achievement.” This statement strikes fear into my very core. Perhaps it is because this procedure is new. Perhaps it is because I do not trust all principals with such responsibility.

In New York City, Fair Student Funding has also recently been put into place. This new focus is based on three principals:
1. Those closest to the students should get to make the key decisions about what will best help their students succeed.
2. Empowered schools must be accountable for results.
3. NYC schools should be able to count on funding that is fair and transparent.

While there are advocates for NYC Fair Student Funding, there are also critics. New York Teacher says, “The mayor and the chancellor should be applauded for their desire to help the city’s neediest students, but the best way to do that is simply to identify their needs and meet them. The system they have proposed is just playing with abstract — and inadequate — numbers,” (“Equalizing Teachers,” New York Teacher, Mar 15, 2007).

From my teaching experience in Baltimore (and from my colleagues’ experiences) and from working with four principals in the past two years at my school, I do not believe that this decision will benefit my school. There are too many inconsistencies for it to benefit my students. The staff turn-over is too high, the administrators unprepared to manage this amount of money. Ultimately, I believe that this switch in power will make the strong schools stronger and the struggling schools worse. Already, there is a great divide between schools in this city; this move will extend this gap.