Title: Chapter 2 History of School Finance
1Chapter 2 History of School Finance
2- Our founding fathers profoundly believed that
their new democracys health depended on its
peoples virtues as right, honorable, ethical
individuals as well as knowledgeable citizens.
3Founding Fathers BelievedPublic Education
Essential
- Rousseau noted in 1758 that public educationis
one of the fundamental rules of popular or
legitimate government. - Jean Jacques Rousseau, A Discourse of Political
Economy, 1758, translation and introduction by
G.D.H. Cole in The Social Contract and
Discourses, London J.M. Dent Sons, 1973), p.
149.
- An educated general populace required for its
democratic republics survival
4- The first American school finance laws date back
to the Massachusetts Act of 1642, which required
parents and masters to attend to the educational
duties of the colonys sons and servants.
5- The General Court (the colonial legislature)
empowered certain chosen men of each town to
ascertain, from time to time, if the parents and
masters were attending to their educational
duties if the children were being trained in
learning and labor and other employmentsprofitabl
e to the Commonwealth .
6Early U.S. Value in Education
- The child is to be educated, not to advance his
personal interest, but because the state will
suffer if he is not educated.
7Profitable to the state
- Profitable meant that sons and male servants
learned to read and understand religious
principles while they received training in
learning and labor. Women stayed home and
learned household tasks and embroidery an
obvious Title IX violation - today.
- Ellwood Cubberley, The History of Education
(Boston Houghton Mifflin, 1920), p. 34
8Ye Olde Deluder Satan Laws
- Within five years of the first school finance
law, however, it failed
- The law presumed that those who could read
understand the Bible couldnt be tempted to
follow Satans wiles.
9Different Sized Settlements Had Varying
Requirements for Providing Public Schooling
- For 50 or more households -
- Appoint a reading and writing teacher
- Pay what deemed appropriate
- For settlements of 100 or more households
- Community taxed property owners to provide a
grammar school
10Towns not meeting this educational requirement
faced a financial penalty.
11Who Paid for Schools?
- Founding fathers believed that the wealthy should
pay for educations public and religious
functions.
- Local government taxed property because people in
those days considered land to be a valid measure
of wealth.
12The Law of 1647 Represented a Distinct Step
Forward
- Not only did the law order towns to establish a
school system elementary for all towns
children, and secondary for youths in the larger
towns but - For the first time among English-speaking people,
there was an assertion of the right of the State
to require communities to establish and maintain
schools. Failure to do so resulted in penalty.
13The Laws of 1642 1647
- Represent the foundations upon which our
American state public-school systems have been
built.
- They also established the States right to tax
for the provision of education. - Â
14Massachusetts Precedent
- Establishing property taxes as the basis for
funding public schools quickly caught on in other
New England colonies. It remains a tradition to
this day.
15Compromise to Appease States Rights Advocates
Federalists
- Since the first 10 Amendments do not mention
education, it became a state function.
16Who is Responsible for Public Schools?
- This compromise, however, has far-reaching legal
and financial effects today.
- States rights continues to be a discomforting
national issue with keen influence on educational
policy and practices.
17Taxing Property Evolved Somewhat Differently in
Various Regions
- The middle and southern colonies, for example,
subsidized very basic public schools (small
facilities, limited curriculum, few students
attending)
- Mostly churches parents financed further
education.
18Education Prosperity
- States must invest as heavily in education as
their capacity allows if they want future
economic prosperity for all its citizens.
19Regional Evolution of Schools School Financing
- 1. Good school
- conditions
- 2. Mixed conditions
- 3. Pauper
- parochial schools
- 4. No action group
20Schools Evolution Differed in Various Geographic
Regions
- New England became the first English-speaking
area that required children learn how to read
- Although religious in inspiration and scope
(students would be able to interpret the Bible
for themselves and save their immortal souls),
knowing how to read and comprehend also allowed
individuals to think for themselves and act
without offense or injury to others
21Good School Conditions
- Citizens generally valued education and saw its
value for the entire populace - Provided public financial support to educate
large number of students
- Maine
- Vermont
- New Hampshire
- Massachusetts
- Connecticut
- New York
- Ohio
White Male
22Mixed Conditions Schools
- People held conflicting ideas about what
education should be and what it should provide
for children. - Showed wide variance in their willingness to
fund local schools and in resulting education
quality.
23Pauper Parochial School
- Believed that high-quality schooling was for the
elite - Privileged sent their children to
church-sponsored (parochial) schools - Community leaders believed that the poor
(paupers) deserved a minimal level of education
- Pennsylvania
- New Jersey
- Delaware
- Maryland
- Virginia
- Georgia
- South Carolina
- Louisiana
24No Action Group
- Philosophically, these colonists believed
that government should play little role in
citizens or community affairs. Individuals held
responsibility for their own actions and
well-being, including providing for their
childrens education.
- These regions took little or no actions
establishing public education in their early
statehood. - Rhode Island, Kentucky, Tennessee, North
Carolina, Mississippi, and Alabama.
25Not All States Fit These Categories
- A number of states reflect an amalgam of people
and ideas, not fitting one distinct pattern.
26The BEST Schooling Model
- The Good School Conditions
- model offered its eligible children
- the best learning
- opportunities.
27Federal History of School Funding
- Even though the Constitution made education a
state responsibility, the federal government did
not abandon involvement with public schools or
leave their financing solely to the states
- On the contrary, the federal government heavily
promoted and financed education from before the
Constitution was ratified
28Federal Financial Involvement in Education
- In 1778 Congress eagerly sought ways to
generate revenue for the new country and to pay
its war debts. One method involved selling claim
to western territories.
29Ordinance of 1785
- New Congressional townships in the western
territories should be six miles square (or
thirty-six square miles) - The six miles square would be surveyed and
divided into thirty-six lots, each of one square
mile - Towns could set aside the proceeds from lot
number 16 to finance their public schools
30Early School Financing
- Northwest Ordinance of 1787
- Authorized land grants to establish education
- Magnificent rhetoric but little guidance about
how to carry - it out
- Ordinance of 1787
- Conveyed approximately five million acres to land
speculators
31The Ordinance Included
Religion, morality, and knowledge being
necessary to good government and the happiness of
mankind, schools and the means of education shall
be forever encouraged.
32New States Required to Provide Education
- The Northwest Ordinance also established the
requisite conditions for territories to become
states and included a provision that each state
have an education provision within its basic
laws.
33Clarifying the Sixteenth Sections Township
Intent
- Required monies from this sections sales be
spent for public schools - Started with Ohio
- Federal state roles clarified
344th Wave of Federal Policy
- States would receive a 5 portion of the sale
of public lands states agreed that federal
lands within states would be exempt from state
taxes - These revenues added to monies available to
establish public schools
35Andrew Jacksons Presidency
- There was a move to decentralize the federal
government - In 1836, the Surplus Revenue Deposit Act gave 28
million of federal funds to the states - Much of this windfall was spent for public
schools
36Another Major Federal Financing of U.S. Education
- In 1802, Congress enacted legislation
establishing the U.S. Military Academy - In 1845, established the Naval Academy
- In 1876, founded the Coast Guard Academy
- In 1936, founded The Merchant Marine Academy
- In 1954, started the U. S. Air Force Academy
371862, Congress Established the Morrill Act
- Authorized the states to use public land grants
to establish and maintain agricultural and
mechanical colleges - Assured the countrys economic security by
producing knowledgeable managers and planners for
the nations growth - In 1890, Congress passed the second Morrill Act
providing funds to support instruction in the
colleges that the first Morrill Act established
38U.S. Department of Education
- Established in 1867
- This brought the function of education to a
leadership position in the federal government
- Later, the Department was downgraded to the
Office of Education. It continued as part of the
Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
until reestablished as a Department in 1980
39The 1917 Smith-Hughes Act
- During World War I, the government faced large
numbers of returning soldiers who needed specific
workplace skills - This Act gave states grants to support vocational
education
40States Administer Federal Monies
- The national government directed the states role
in administering this program according to
federal standards and funds a model followed in
future federal education grants.
411918, Congress Passed the Vocational
Rehabilitation Act
- Providing funds to rehabilitate World War I
veterans.
421919, Congressional Act to Provide for Further
Educational Facilities
- Authorized the federal government to sell
surplus machine tools to schools for 15 percent
of their original purchase price enabling
schools - to have the equipment
- needed to give students
- real world training.
431920, Smith-Bankhead Act
- Authorized grants for the states to provide
vocational rehabilitation programs.
441935, Agricultural Adjustment Act
- Congress and the Executive Branch desperately
sought the quick-fix to save the crashing economy
and relieve citizens economic despair.
- Set up the School Lunch Act providing food
to schools so it could feed its students (because
their families might not).
451941, Amendment to the Lanham Act of 1940
- Providing federal aid for the construction,
maintenance, and operation of schools located in
federally impacted areas
- (where U.S. military families lived and worked
on government-owned land and facilities and paid
no state or local property taxes).
461943, Vocational Rehabilitation Act
- Public Law 78-16
- Provided assistance to disabled veterans
returning home from WW II
471944, The G.I. Bill
- Servicemens Readjustment Act
- Provided education benefits to military returnees
as they reentered civilian life
- By providing
- an attractive education alternative to
employment, the GI Bill delayed many of the
returning veterans from flooding the labor market
and stalling economic recovery.
48G.I. Bill
- Offered a living stipend while veterans attended
school, effectively transitioning the potential
labor glut into a student cohort earning their
living while learning new work knowledge and
skills - Enabled an educational investment in our
countrys infrastructure by enhancing the
workforces job skills
49G.I. Bill, cont.
- Effectively supplied a massive education
infusion to citizens, raising the education bar,
and expanding learning horizons, career, and
lifestyle opportunities for these returnees and
for future generations.
50Federal Property and Administrative Services Act
- Initially, schools and colleges felt a bit
overwhelmed with the newfound demand for their
services, placing a drain on resources.
- The Act allowed the national government to
donate surplus federal property to educational
institutions.
51After WWII
- America believed herself to be the most
powerful nation in military and economic strength.
52Following Sputnik in 1957, however, the nation
faced a wrenching reality check.
53National Defense Education Act
- The NDEA provided economic assistance to
states and individual school systems to beef up
science and math instruction, foreign languages,
and other crucial subjects.
54 NDEA Also Supplied States with Resources
Including
- Statistical reporting
- Guidance counseling
- Testing
- Vocational technical programs
- Higher education student loans fellowships
- Foreign language study training
- New teaching media
55Education of Mentally Retarded Children Act
- Train teachers to work successfully with
disabled students.
- Prior to this time, only a few states
distributed funds to localities to supplement
educational programs for handicapped students.
Most families with disabled children had to find
their own help.
561975 Education for All Handicapped Children Act
- Public Law 101-46
- Intended the federal government to pay 40 of the
funding necessary for special education services - States localities to pay the rest
- Today, the federal government pays 17 of special
education costs instead of the 40 promised in
national legislation
571965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act
- Categorical Aid Programs Title I
- Provided supplemental school program grants for
children of low-income families - Intended to help economically disadvantaged
students succeed (catch up with middle class and
affluent peers) in the regular school program - Provided additional educations resources to
improve their basic and advanced skills to
achieve grade-level proficiency - Included extra or school-wide activities
encouraging heavy parent involvement
58Government Distributes These Funds in 2 Ways
- Basic Grants
- Flow through the State Education Agency (SEA) to
localities based on a formula involving the
school districts number of eligible students and
the average state per-pupil expenditure.
- Concentration Grants
- Available only to restricted populations and
represent a smaller percentage of the overall
funding. - Particularly useful to school systems with high
percentages of disadvantaged students.
59Title I
- Title I provided supplemental school program
grants for children of low-income families - This program intended to help economically
disadvantaged students succeed in the regular
school program by improving basic and advanced
skills and achieving grade-level proficiency - The program could include supplemental or
school-wide activities encouraging heavy parent
involvement
60Title I, cont.
- Most Title I funds are basic grants which flow
through the State Education Agency (SEA) to
localities based on a formula involving the
school districts number of eligible students and
the average state per-pupil expenditure - Concentration grants represent a smaller
percentage of the overall funding within this
Title
61Title I, cont.
- Concentration grants are designed for localities
with a high number of eligible students more
than 6,500 students or more than 15 of all
students eligible for Title I funding - This is particularly useful to school systems
with high percentages of disadvantaged students
62Title I, cont.
- Annual amount of Congressional funds allocated
for Title I varies from year to year, depending
on political allocation decisions - Requires that school divisions will not receive
less than 85 of its previous years funding
share
- Title I money had less buying power in the 1990s
although expected to support learning
interventions for more children
63Title II
- Grant monies for school
- library resources, textbooks
- other instructional materials,
- including audio-visual equipment
-
- Called the Dwight D.
- Eisenhower Mathematics
- Science Education Act
64Title II
- Provides presidential awards
- for outstanding teaching
- Funds for magnet schools
- Monies for talented and gifted programs
- Funds for womens educational equity
- Grants for drug abuse prevention,
- dropout prevention,
- bilingual education,
- other programs.
65Other Categorical Grants
- Title III
- Provided funds for supplementary education
centers and services to public and private
schools
66Other Categorical Grants, cont.
- Title IV
- Allocated funds for regional educational research
and training laboratories
67Other Categorical Grants, cont.
- Title V
- Provided funds for strengthening state
departments of education (otherwise known as
State Education Agencies SEAs) -
68Funding Public Broadcasting
- In 1967, Congress passed the Public Broadcasting
Act - The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) was
created and assumed a major role in routing
federal monies to noncommercial radio and
television stations
69Funding Public Broadcasting
- The CPB began program production groups and
started Educational Television (ETV) networks - The CPB was responsible for awarding construction
grants for educational radio and television
facilities
- Many of todays new teachers were raised on
programming given its start by the CPB. Those
programs include Sesame Street, The Electric
Company, and others.
70Educating Disabled Students
- In 1968, the Handicapped Childrens Early
Education Assistance Act, Public Law 90-576, was
passed. This act provided for the authorization
of preschool and early education programs for
handicapped children
71Educating Disabled Students, cont.
- Seven years later, in 1975, Public Law 94-142,
the Education for All Handicapped Children Act
provided that all handicapped children have a
free, appropriate public education
72Social Changes School Funding
- In 1970, many federal legislative changes came
into being that had their beginning in social
changes of the times - The National Commission on School Finance was
established under the Elementary and Secondary
Education Assistance Programs, Extension, Public
Law 91-230 -
73Social Changes School Funding, cont.
- Office of Education Appropriation Act, Public Law
91-380, provided emergency school assistance to
desegregating local school districts and schools - The Drug Abuse Education Act of 1970, Public Law
91-527, provided funding for the development,
demonstration, and evaluation of materials
dealing with the many problems of drug abuse
74Selected Other Federal Funding
- In 1986, the Handicapped Childrens Protection
Act, Public Law 99-372, was passed - This allowed parents of handicapped students to
collect the attorney fees in cases brought under
the Education of the Handicapped Act
75Selected Other Federal Funding, cont.
- In 1993 the NAEP Assessment Authorization, Public
Law 103-33, authorized the use of the National
Assessment of Educational Progress, the Nations
Report Card - To be used for the purpose of making
state-by-state comparisons of student
performance. Country-by-country comparisons had
already been made public
76Selected Other Federal Funding, cont.
- In 1996, Congress felt pressure from states and
localities regarding legislation that required
states and localities to take certain actions
that required money without the financial
provisions in the acts to cover costs - To that end, the Contract With America Unfunded
Mandates, Public Law 104-4, was passed in an
attempt to curb the practice of imposing
unfounded federal mandates on states and
localities
77Federal Funding Today
- Today, the federal government funds approximately
50 billion dollars for education purposes at the
elementary and secondary levels
78Federal Funding Today, cont.
- The federal government has invested more than
- 1 trillion in elementary secondary
education from 1969 to 2001 an average of more
than 27.7 billion per year.