Transcript Washington State’s School Finances: Does Every Child Count?

Washington State PTA
School Finance Study
Washington State School Finances:
Does Every Child Count?
A Report by the Washington State PTA
Washington State PTA
School Finance Study
Study Focus
• Analyzed the local, state and federal revenues
used to maintain and operate public school
districts in 2001-02 school year
• Used only General Fund revenues
• Included about 96 percent of 969,838 student
FTEs
• 174 of 296 school districts, excluded small and
remote districts
School Finance Study
Adjustments for Different Costs
Washington State PTA
Adjusting for Student Needs
• Special education students given a weight of 1.9
• English language learners given a weight of 1.2
• Poor students given a weight of 1.2
Adjusting for District Differences in Education Costs
• Used a district-level Geographic Cost of Education Index (GCEI)
developed for the nation by researchers for the U.S. Department
of Education.
• GCEI is based on costs of teachers, administrators, other school
staff, and educational resources.
School Finance Study
Washington State PTA
Funding-per-Pupil Averages for
174 Public School Districts in School Year 2001-02
Average
Standard
deviation
Median
Combined state &
local funding per
pupil*
$6,317
$462
$6,319
Total federal, state
& local funding per
pupil*
$6,906
$577
$6,827
*All figures have been adjusted for differences in local costs
and weighted for student needs.
Washington State PTA
School Finance Study
Q1. How fairly is school funding distributed?
Based on national benchmarks for two equity
measures, the distribution is generally fair and
equitable.
• Coefficient of Variation
• McCloone Index
Washington State PTA
School Finance Study
Q1. How fairly is school funding distributed?
Even with favorable assessment, 17 districts are
more than 1 standard deviation below average.
See Table 5.
• Funding levels of these lowest-funded
districts ranged from $615 to $1,055 below the
study’s average funding per pupil, adjusted for
student needs and local costs.
Washington State PTA
School Finance Study
Q2. Why are the 17 districts relatively under- funded?
No single reason explains under-funding.
• 16 of 17 districts have below-average shares from more than
one revenue source.
• All 17 districts are located in areas with high education
costs; no state adjustment for costs
• 16 of 17 districts have below-average staff mix factors;
state salary allocation is relatively low
• 12 of the 17 districts make an above-average tax effort;
yet 9 of the 12 generate below-average local revenues
School Finance Study
Q3. To what extent is school funding dependent
on district wealth?
Washington State PTA
District wealth does not appreciably drive school
funding in Washington state.
Fiscal Neutrality scores meet national
benchmarks.
• elasticity of school funding-per-pupil to
tax base-per-pupil
• correlation between school funding-perpupil and tax base-per-pupil
School Finance Study
Q4. What is additional cost of funding schools to
a level adequate to meet state standards?
Washington State PTA
Lower estimate of $179 million
• Based on “successful district approach”
• Brings bottom half of districts up to median
Upper estimate of $2.1 billion
• Based on “professional judgment approach”
used by The Rainier Institute
• No district currently at recommended
funding level
Washington State PTA
School Finance Study
Q5. Which districts are at risk for ensuring high-needs
students attain state standards?
Based on notion that the distribution of resources
should be proportional to need.
17 districts with above-average need, yet below
average resources
See Table 8
Number of Districts
Figure 3. Identifying Most At-Risk
Districts in Study
160
120
80
40
0
65 of 174 districts
22 of the 65
17 of the 22
had below-average districts also had districts had high
funding
large shares of rates of students
high-need
not meeting 4th
students
grade WASL
standards
Washington State PTA
School Finance Study
Q5. Which districts are at risk for ensuring high-needs
students attain state standards?
17 at-risk districts shared other traits in common
• 15 have higher than average rates of
minority students
• 15 have higher than average rates of
poor students
• 13 have average staff mix factors below
the state average
Washington State PTA
School Finance Study
Highline’s Story
Average total funding $6,254
$652 below average
Geo. Cost index - 1.14, High-needs index - 1.023, Poor students - 46 percent
Slightly above-average local share
Taxes itself at above-average rate; Below-average tax base
High enough rate to receive full levy authority; in fact had a roll back.
Below average State Share
Below average staff-mix factor
No compensation for high cost of education
Relatively low compensation for poor students
Not eligible to receive Local Effort Assistance
Below average Federal Share
Washington State PTA
School Finance Study
Grandview’s Story
Average total funding $6,291 $615 below average
Geo. Cost index - 1.01, High-needs index - 1.084, Poor students - 76 percent
Below-average local share
Taxes itself at below-average rate; Far below-average tax base per
pupil
Tax would have to be about 2.5 times average rate to earn the full levy
authority.
Average State Share
Below average staff-mix factor
Relatively low compensation for poor students
Eligible to receive Local Effort Assistance
Above average Federal Share
Large portion of federal funds meant to target poor students
Washington State PTA
School Finance Study
Conclusions
Judged against national benchmarks,
equity is good.
Compared to equity, adequacy of school
funding is much bigger problem.
State needs to do a better job of matching
funds to districts’ needs and costs.
Washington State PTA
School Finance Study
Recommendations
The state should conduct a study of the
state school finance system to
• Develop a base spending per pupil level
aligned with achieving state standards.
• Determine additional funds needed for
students with extraordinary needs.
• Determine feasibility of a price adjustment
to ensure comparable purchasing power
across districts.
Washington State PTA
School Finance Study
General Fund Revenues for School Year 2001-02
Where Does the Money Come From?
Federal Other
1%
9%
Local
19%
State
71%
Total General Fund Revenues = $6,749,561,138
Washington State PTA
School Finance Study
Excluded Districts Have High Per-Pupil-Funding
Funding (State & Local) Per Pupil
Not Adjusted for Cost & Needs
Average
Minimum
Maximum
Included
$6,598
Districts
$5,044
$8,181
Excluded
$8,283
Districts
$5,506
$35,994
Washington State PTA
School Finance Study
Each District has a Need Index and a Cost Index
• Need indexes ranged from 0.91 to 1.18
average need index = 1.0
• Cost indexes ranged from 0.89 to 1.14
average cost index = 1.0
Washington State PTA
School Finance Study
Funding Variables Adjusted for Cost and Need
For Each District Calculated
• (State and local) funding-per-pupil adjusted for
differences in student needs and geographic
costs
• (Federal, state and local) funding-per-pupil
adjusted for differences in student needs and
geographic costs
Washington State PTA
School Finance Study
Adjustments Changed Relative Ranking
Rank
Before
Rank
After
1
26
Tacoma, Pierce Co.
10
91
Southside, Mason Co.
79
13
District, County
Seattle, King Co.
Washington State PTA
School Finance Study
Equity Scores (Dispersion Measures) for 174 Districts
Range
Combined state & local funding per pupil*
$3,055
Total federal, state & local funding per
pupil*
$3,836
* All figures have been adjusted for differences in regional costs and
weighted for student needs.
• Range is difference between top and bottom value.
• Addition of federal funds increases range by about $800.
• National benchmarks for range don’t exist.
Washington State PTA
School Finance Study
Equity Scores (Dispersion Measures) for 174 Districts
Compare Favorably With National Benchmarks
Coefficient of Variation
Combined state & local funding-per-pupil*
0.073
Total federal, state & local funding-per-pupil*
0.084
* All figures have been adjusted for differences in local costs and
weighted for student needs.
• COV is the standard deviation for funding-per-pupil expressed
as a percent of the average funding-per-pupil.
• Two-thirds of the students are within 7.3 percent of $6,317
state and local funding-per-pupil.
• Both COVs are in the good or desirable range.
Washington State PTA
School Finance Study
Equity Scores (Dispersion Measures) for 174 Districts
Compare Favorably With National Benchmarks
McCloone Index
Combined state & local funding-per-pupil*
0.94
Total federal, state & local funding-per-pupil*
0.94
* All figures have been adjusted for differences in regional costs and
weighted for student needs.
• McCloone Index compares funds to districts below median to
the funds needed to ensure all students received median.
• In both cases, districts receive 94 percent of the funds needed
to ensure all students received the median funding-per-pupil.
• Odden & Picus: desirable to be 0.9 or more
Washington State PTA
School Finance Study
Washington State Meets Standard for Fiscal Neutrality
Fiscal Neutrality Score
Elasticity of tax base per pupil to funding
(state and local) per pupil
0.035
Elasticity of tax base per pupil to funding
(federal, state and local) per pupil
0.019
* All figures have been adjusted for differences in regional costs and
weighted for student needs.
• Fiscal neutrality is when district funding is not dependent on
district wealth.
• A 1-percent increase in tax base per pupil is associated with a
0.035 percent increase in funding (state and local) per pupil.
• Addition of federal funds lessens the elasticity to 0.019.
• Odden & Picus: anything less than 0.1 means state met
wealth neutrality standard.
Washington State PTA
School Finance Study
Equity Results
Wealth Neutrality
• Overtime, wealth neutrality scores from various
studies have indicated a stable relationship
between district wealth and district funding.
• 1997 GAO Report (1993 data) .055
• 2003 Ed Week (2000 data)
.066
• 2004 PTA Report (2002 data) .035
Washington State PTA
School Finance Study
Cost Estimates for Achieving State Education Goals
are Expensive and Range Widely
Additional funds needed to bring all students to
an adequate level beyond the state and local
funding of $6,174,101,704
• Assuming median level is adequate level of
funding, the cost estimate is $178,670,188
• Assuming Rainier Institute level is adequate
level of funding, the cost estimate is
$2,067,477,832
Washington State PTA
School Finance Study
Cost Estimates Depend on Approach
Approach 1: Link a funding per pupil to a level of
student outcomes
Studies in Ohio and Illinois identified districts
that achieved a desired level of performance
using state tests. From this group of districts,
identify those with characteristics comparable
to state average. Then calculate the average
spending-per-pupil of these districts. Results
show that the calculated spending level is
close to state’s median spending-per-pupil.
Washington State PTA
School Finance Study
Cost Estimates Depend on Approach
Approach 1: Link a funding per pupil to a level of student outcomes
• No such study done in Washington state. But,
similar to other studies, we assume median
funding-per-pupil ($6,319) is adequate funding
level.
• The total amount of funding (state and local) for
students below the median is $2,930,531,899;
the revenue needed to fund the median for this
group is $3,109,202,088.
• Difference is $178,670,188.
Washington State PTA
School Finance Study
Cost Estimates Depend on Approach
Approach 2: Identifying a set of inputs and
pricing them. (Rainier Institute)
RI identified and priced a set of staffing levels
and resources for effective regular, special
education, ESL and remedial programs. A
panel of experts reviewed inputs for fit with
state.
School Finance Study
Washington State PTA
Cost Estimates Depend on Approach
Elementary K-5
Allotment for Special Need Students in WEQM Model
Core Certif. Additional Core Instruct. Professional Centralized Total
Instruct.
Instruct.
support
training &
services
Allotment
Staff
Time
staff
development
FTEs
Spec ed
ESL
Compensatory
66
44
100
$158,865
59,422
$149,890
$15,383
$32,381
2,950
241,844
0
Total allotment on special needs population =
Allotment/ WEQM
spec FTEs WEIGHTS
$356,519
62,372
241,844
$660,736
499
$8,393 $4,185,169
Total FTEs * Expenditures per Student = Total Spent
$3,524,434 Total allotment on all FTEs for basic ed = $4,185,169.45 - $663,685.55
$7,068 Basic allotment per FTE
$5,398
$1,406
$2,418
0.76
0.20
0.34
Washington State PTA
School Finance Study
Relatively Low Funded Districts
Districts at the lower end of the funding spectrum
are substantially below the average funding
per pupil, adjusted for cost and need.
Washington State PTA
School Finance Study
Key to Map
Districts with an average (state & local) funding per
pupil, adjusted for student needs and regional costs,
that is
$924 or more below the state average
(twice the standard deviation)
Between $462 and $924 below the state average
(one to two times the standard deviation).
Between $462 and $924 above the state average
(one to two times the standard deviation).
$924 or more above the state average
(twice the standard deviation)
Washington State PTA
School Finance Study
Key to Map
Districts with an average (federal, state & local) funding
per pupil, adjusted for student needs and regional costs,
that is
Between $577 and $1,154 below the state average
(one to two times the standard deviation).
Between $577 and $1,154 above the state average
(one to two times the standard deviation).
$1,154 or more above the state average
(twice the standard deviation)