District Administration - July 2006 - (Page 47)

TALKS TALKS By Julie S t u r geo n DISTRICT BUDGET: while we use formulas, the formulas database, it allows Olds and the dep- $14.6 billion are essentially bare bones. It's very uty chief of staff to the deputy chan- Funding percent frustrating when schools present cellor, Stephanie Keating, drill down legitimate needs and there really and manipulate the information to Local & Regional: 80% isn't enough money to meet those. answer nearly any question that pops National: 20% That means even more coming up. It's really the only way to run a Number of students: from someone who has been in place like this, Keating agrees. budgeting her entire career. I have Unfor t u nately, the hard and fast 1.1 million students always known the best way to do a numbers it spits out can't solve every Budget approval budget is to really know the opera- problem. One of the major issues for timeline: October - April t ion of the department you're work- us is the fact that as a school system, i ng in, says Olds, who joined the we're under-resourced, says Olds. Who approves department in November 2002. She doesn't even have to fantasize or budget: Mayor and Keating, on the other hand, speculate on her idea of the perfect City Council brought a consultant background budget: a non-profit group known to her position. It's a problem to as the Campaign for Fiscal Equity solve: How do you take X number has mentioned in court cases that of dollars and spread it out equally New York City falls short of proper Take No Child Left Behind, for throughout the system? It's a chal- funding for a sound, basic education instance. New York City needed to lenge, but it's interesting, she notes. here by nearly $6 billion a year. So divert resources from its Title One stash to comply with NCLB regula- tions, as well as pay for the test and ADVICE : Even with limited resources, target scoring to collect the data. A lot of [funds] as efficiently and effectively as possible to the other programs we get funding for require reporting, but for a system this be equitable. And it's exciting to know that by size, the logistics meant a pretty com- getting the budgets out early, you can have a prehensive change, Olds explains. dramatic impact on the schools' ability to hire the At least administrators throughout best teachers. You're really making a difference. the system don't blame these budget czars. There really is not much room Susan Olds, executive budget director, for flexibility, Keating says. So I New York City Department of Education don't have to be the bad guy. Miami-Dade County Fla. School District OPERATING BUDGET: $ 4,982,310,000 July 2006 47 www.DistrictAdministration.com budgets.w.indd 47 6/19/06 11:14:52 AM http://www.DistrictAdministration.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - July 2006

Contents
Editor's Letter
Letters
Update
Inside the Law
Curriculum Update
Administrator Profile
District Profile
Mixed Reviews
Making Reading Count
No-Nonsense Networking
Cover Story: Money Talks
Making Choices
The Online Edge
Speaking Out
Public Opinion
Problem/Solution
New Products
By the Numbers

District Administration - July 2006