financing

Realizing Deeper Learning: The Economics and Achievements of an Innovative Chartered School Model

An analysis of two innovative chartered schools in Minnesota, including a financial analysis which shows this innovation is possible at a net cost well below district schools of similar demographics. By Charles Kyte, a former superintendent and executive director of the Minnesota Association of School Administrators.

Shifting From "What We Spend" to "How We Spend It"

The total cost of the education system is rising at about 5 to 8 percent per year. If schools are not at the same time increasing "performance" or "productivity," their real cost to the public is increasing. This relationship is not sustainable. To reconcile this problem, schools will need to be designed differently.

Education Finance: More money or different spending choices?

In policy debate the discussion about money is often about ‘how much?’ The conclusion is almost always: ‘Not enough!’ This report looks inside schools and districts at differences in how money is actually spent. It suggests that the size of school and district, the governance arrangement and the degree to which teachers are involved in decision-making influence the allocation of revenue to instruction.

CPRE's School Finance Research: 15 Years of Findings

Over 100 years, Allan Odden says in this paper for the Consortium for Policy Research in Education, the increases in spending on K-12 public education have averaged 3.5% per year. And consistently 60% of that has gone to teacher-instruction. Includes basic data, for a discussion about costs, adequacy and productivity.

Cost of Sponsoring MN Charter Schools

Chartering cannot work without quality sponsoring/authorizing. Quality sponsoring requires good systems, competent people and time. That means: money. We studied what it cost three Minnesota sponsors to review applications, develop contracts and oversee schools, over a three-year period.

Minnesota Now Reports Revenue and Expenditure by School

In 1999 the Minnesota Legislature required all revenue to be initially allocated by school. Boards may re-allocate, but schools and parents can now see how much money 'belongs' to the school as a result of the students enrolled.

North St. Paul District Trims Its Budget

A common concern is that rising costs, not covered either by increases in revenue or by improvements in productivity, lead the districts to reduce the scope or quality of the program available. Here E|E looks at what happened in a district near Saint Paul after its 'budget crisis' appeared in the news.

Windows on the Next Generation of Charter Schools and Chartering

A look at the next generation of chartered schools and the environment in which they live. We will need to diversify charter authorizers, document the progress of existing chartered schools, find ways to finance facilities and transportation, and find new ways to organize extra-curricular activities.

Allocation of General Education Revenue Among Buildings Memorandum

A memo to the superintendents of the St. Paul school district regarding the allocation of revenue among buildings. It includes instructions for computing initial general education revenue per-building using tools provided by the Department, and instructions for maintaining separate accounts for each building through UFARS.

It’s a Revenue Game

Districts are unable to control their costs, Minnesota superintendents concede. This helps explain a central notion in K-12, that all budget problems are to be solved on the revenue side.

Teachers Propose Eliminating 31 Jobs to Improve Their Pay in Forest Lake

A newspaper reporter discovered a letter from the union to the board of education, offering to sacrifice 31 teachers' jobs in order to generate revenue for the salary settlement.

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