School Business Management and Finance: EDAD 634
I am constantly fascinated by finance, and loved everything that I learned in this very informative course. There are a lot of things that I was aware of and learned more in depth, and many things I hadn't ever heard of before. Once such example is that I hadn't ever heard about land grants before, and how in many states land was designated specifically for schools and still provides income to schools today. I learned so much about what it takes to create and manage a school budget, and the ways that states differ in how they raise money for education and the amounts per pupil that they spend.
I was able to interview a superintendent in a large district and find out about how he funded a large school construction project. They were just about finished building their new k-8 school building. I talked with and interviewed my superintendent and business manager, and was able to put what I was learning into context in my own school district. It is facinating how hard it is for states to overcome inequities in funding, and how many lawsuits have taken place involving school funding. There is also a huge discrepancy from state to state on how much is spent per student on education. I feel lucky to live in a state that funds their schools well, but for many states they would love to fund their schools better, they just don't have as many natural resources that bring income to the state.
In Wyoming this year they will be revisiting our state funding model and revising it. In Wyoming the state recaptures money from property rich districts and gives it to school districts in poorer areas. We also better fund small schools and districts to compensate for the extra costs associated with hiring more staff per student. Our budgeting process is different than that in a small district, but I'm glad to have a broader view of how things work in large school districts. I know that school funding should be a priority in each state government, but that our role as educational leaders is to do the best with what we are given. We must use our resources wisely and tie educational goals to each expenditure we make. Then, when we are being wise stewards we are entitled to lobby for more funding.
All of my work for this course can be found in the anthology file.
I was able to interview a superintendent in a large district and find out about how he funded a large school construction project. They were just about finished building their new k-8 school building. I talked with and interviewed my superintendent and business manager, and was able to put what I was learning into context in my own school district. It is facinating how hard it is for states to overcome inequities in funding, and how many lawsuits have taken place involving school funding. There is also a huge discrepancy from state to state on how much is spent per student on education. I feel lucky to live in a state that funds their schools well, but for many states they would love to fund their schools better, they just don't have as many natural resources that bring income to the state.
In Wyoming this year they will be revisiting our state funding model and revising it. In Wyoming the state recaptures money from property rich districts and gives it to school districts in poorer areas. We also better fund small schools and districts to compensate for the extra costs associated with hiring more staff per student. Our budgeting process is different than that in a small district, but I'm glad to have a broader view of how things work in large school districts. I know that school funding should be a priority in each state government, but that our role as educational leaders is to do the best with what we are given. We must use our resources wisely and tie educational goals to each expenditure we make. Then, when we are being wise stewards we are entitled to lobby for more funding.
All of my work for this course can be found in the anthology file.
syllubus_edad634.doc | |
File Size: | 450 kb |
File Type: | doc |
anthology_-_edad_634.docx | |
File Size: | 2127 kb |
File Type: | docx |