Education Week - November 17, 2021 - 2

States' Spending
On K-12 Education
Still Inequitable
Poor schools in nearly half the states get short shrift
when it comes to per-student funding. That's the case
even though there's abundant evidence that highpoverty
schools benefit from more-robust investment.
So says a new analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data
that also shows wide disparities in how school funding
is distributed. On average, schools spend roughly
$15,000 per student. But within states, average funding
ranges from about $9,700 per student in Arizona
to roughly $26,700 in New York. That's a difference of
some $17,000 per student.
Those figures are among the findings in the annual
" Making the Grade " report published late last month
by the Education Law Center.
They highlight the long-standing reality of school
funding: Per-student spending varies widely, depending
on property values, tax revenues, budgetary constraints,
and political conditions. A highly complex
and chaotic school finance system leaves thousands
of schools with inadequate resources and millions of
students with insufficient opportunities to learn.
Schools in more than half the states get fewer dollars
per student than the national average-in 12 of them,
more than $3,000 below the national average.
All these 2019 figures are adjusted for regional differences
and omit federal funds, which make up just
8 percent of the nation's K-12 education investment.
The report's authors, Danielle Farrie and David Sciarra,
argue that these massive disparities reinforce the
need for more federal support for the nation's public
school system. Ideally, they write, expanded federal
funding would spur states to ramp up their own investment,
rather than giving them cover to make cuts.
Several states, including Tennessee and Vermont,
are in the process of revamping their funding formulas.
In several others, legal challenges to school funding
formulas aim to improve public school offerings
and address historical inequities.
The report assigns states a grade of A through F in
three areas: funding level, funding distribution, and
funding effort.
Wyoming is the only state to receive an A in all three
metrics. Only one other state, Alaska, received A and
B grades.
Florida and Nevada got F's on all three measures,
while Alabama, Arizona, North Carolina, Tennessee,
and Utah got F's in two out of three.
What Matters?
People rally against a
proposed ban on Black
Lives Matter and Pride
flags at school in
Newberg, Ore., in late
September. The school
board approved the
measure and later
outlawed all political
symbols. Last week, it
fired Superintendent
Joe Morelock without
citing a reason. Earlier,
he had said the policy
would be difficult to
enforce.
Texas Gov. Steps Up Crusade to Banish Books
Deemed 'Pornographic'
" I know it when I see it. " That's the way the late Supreme
Court Justice Potter Stewart famously described pornography
in a 1964 case.
Gov. Greg Abbott apparently is following his lead. In letters
to Texas school groups and libraries this month, he demands
ridding schools and libraries of " pornography " without defining
that term or " obscene content. " The books he cites deal
with LGBTQ issues-one involving domestic abuse.
Now, he's taking it a step further. Last week, the Republican
announced a criminal probe into the matter.
" The fact that pornographic material that serves no educational
purpose has been made available to students in Texas
public schools is a clear violation of the law, " he wrote, directing
the Texas Education Agency to " investigate any criminal
activity in our public schools involving the availability of pornography "
to minors and to refer cases for prosecution.
Abbott also charged that the Texas Association of School
Boards had abdicated its responsibility because the organization
hadn't followed up on his earlier directive to " shield
children from pornography and other inappropriate content. "
The governor's actions follow on the heels of state lawmakers
banning schools from teaching critical race theory, even
though the decades-old academic theory is not taught in any
public school. In addition to a call to remove books deemed
pornographic, Texas conservatives have moved to ban books
that deal with race and gender.
One state representative has gone as far as calling on districts
to provide information on more than 800 books about
such topics as race and racism, sex and sexuality, abortion,
and LGBTQ rights. The Austin and Dallas districts have said
they won't respond.
Opponents of the book challenges say their real intent is
to excise stories by and about minorities and those who are
LGBTQ. Richard Price, a political science professor at Weber
State University in Ogden, Utah, and the author of the Adventures
in Censorship blog, said the attacks amount to a " war on
books. " As some schools have caved to such challenges, Price
said, the appetite has only grown for more.
More State Affiliates Are Distancing Themselves
From NSBA Over Federal Request to Stem Violence
Montana's out. So's South Carolina. They're saying so long to
the National School Boards Association. And in Arizona, Republican
activists have launched a so-called " nonpartisan " alternative
school board association.
Board members from Montana and South Carolina and the
founders of the alternative association claim they've long had
issues with the national organization and its respective state affiliates.
But the breaking point appears to be the NSBA's request
to President Joe Biden for federal law-enforcement assistance to
deal with threats of violence and intimidation over COVID-19 requirements
at schools. It later apologized for the original request.
Montana School Boards Association officials say they are leaving
the NSBA because it has lost its focus in supporting local
school boards offering professional development and advocating
quality education.
The Montana group plans to work with other state associations
to create a new national organization.
In South Carolina, meanwhile, leaders of that state affiliate
said they were withdrawing their membership at the request of
36 GOP House members and Gov. Henry McMaster, who criticized
the national group for comparing parents upset over mask
mandates to domestic terrorists.
What Republicans in Arizona have come up with is the Arizona
Coalition of School Board Members, headed by such activists as
the first vice chair and treasurer of the Republican Party of Arizona
and the daughter of the chairwoman.
Some parents and conservative groups have voiced opposition
to the Arizona School Boards Association in recent years
because of its position on issues like Empowerment Scholarship
Accounts and, more recently, critical race theory and the handling
of COVID-19.
For $25, inaugural members-who can be school board members,
parents, community members, school board candidates,
teachers, or administrators-can join the coalition.
The coalition describes itself as a " nonpartisan " advocacy
group, but the makeup of the organization's board suggests its
mission is political. Its leadership is made up of GOP officials and
those pushing conservative agendas.
BRIEFLY STATED CONTRIBUTORS: Associated Press, Alyson Klein, Mark Lieberman, and Tribune News Service. Edited by Karen Diegmueller.
2 | EDUCATION WEEK | November 17, 2021 | www.edweek.org
Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian via AP

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Education Week - November 17, 2021

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