Crews: There is a better way to budget for education

The Hamilton County Commission’s recent decision to devote the proceeds of the sale of East Brainerd Elementary School to public education is good news. Commissioners could have decided to spend the expected several million dollar windfall on other aspects of county government, but instead recognized that we need to spend more on schools to give our kids the education they need.

The commission’s decision to be directly involved in how education dollars are spent is — despite the protests of some — also good news. After all, if the commission wants to have a say in how much and how funds are spent on education, maybe they will also be willing to be held accountable for results.

Unfortunately, the commission’s plan to equally distribute the dollars across commission districts with decisions on how dollars are spent left up to individual commissioners is where the good news ends and the trouble begins. There are four big problems with the plan.

Taxpayers will rightfully worry the dollars will be wasted. County taxpayers believe that schools need additional funding to provide an excellent education for all of our children, but they also believe too much of the money we spend on public education is wasted. The commission’s plan just feeds fears that rather than going toward needed investments in teachers, technology and infrastructure, funds will go toward pork barrel spending and patronage.

The process won’t be open or transparent. Unlike the city and the county and school systems across Tennessee, the Hamilton County Department of Education does not provide an easy-to-review, online version of its budget and education expenditures. The commission’s plan suggests individual commissioners — supposedly in consultation with members of the school board — will go off in a back room and decide how dollars are spent. The continued lack of transparency will only erode public confidence.

Equality isn’t the same as equity. The needs of the school system vary from student to student, school to school and district to district. An equal division of funding by district makes as much sense as saying that everyone should pay the same amount of taxes — whether they are making the minimum wage or they are a millionaire. For students at our county’s low performing schools to have access to the same educational opportunities as students at our high-performing schools, we may need to spend more in some schools than in others. Most taxpayers understand that. The commission should too.

What about results? During last year’s school board elections, UnifiEd asked candidates about how they would ensure that any new spending on education would go toward improving student performance. The same question should apply to the commission if it goes forward with its decision to become directly involved in allocating funds.

The commission has time to address each of these concerns by adopting an approach that could become a model for all school funding in the future.

First, the process for deciding how funds are allocated should be an open one, and public participation in the process should be actively encouraged. In cities around the country, local governments are experimenting with the idea of participatory budgeting — where residents play a direct role in helping to set budget priorities and evaluating proposals to achieve those priorities. Perhaps participatory budgeting is the right way to allocate the East Brainerd school sale proceeds.

Second, no matter how the funds are allocated, the commission and the school board should be willing to publicly report the details of the allocation and how those funds either did or did not lead to improved student performance.

Third, if there is an allocation by district or school, it should be an equitable one. School systems have turned to an approach known as “weighted student funding” to allocate funds in a way that recognizes different students and schools have different needs.

Finally, instead of just dividing up dollars, what if the commission and the school board agreed these funds would be focused on a particular goal — more kindergartners coming to school ready to learn, a higher percentage of third-graders able to read, fewer dropouts, more schools with acceptable building conditions. With one goal in mind, principals could propose the best ideas to meet the goal. If the programs work, they can become a model going forward. Maybe some of the school system’s partners in foundations and the business community would be willing to invest in this type of approach as well.

Elizabeth Crews is executive director of UnifiEd, a public education advocacy organization in Hamilton County.