Encourage schools to pool dollars from several different categorical programs to pay for more effective schoolwide educational strategies. Reallocate district resources to create a funding pool that could total up to 3 percent of the operating budget for intensive, ongoing professional development. Work with unions to build more flexibility into contracts, especially in the areas of staff assignment and scheduling, so schools will be better able to select staff members who are committed to changes that will result in higher levels of achievement. Create an accountability system that provides both rewards and sanctions based on student performance. Our study shows that performance accountability systems are essential in keeping schools focused on their goals.
Every decision has a price tag.
To make sure districts are paying the right price for the right decisions, our research indicates that schools need the authority and the means to diagnose their students' problems, to direct resources toward solving those problems, and to track their successes and failures. When schools have that kind of support, states and districts can and should hold them accountable for the investments they make in student performance. Allan Odden is the director and Sarah Archibald is a researcher of school finance at the Consortium for Policy Research in Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Illustration by Bob Scott . Miles, Karen Hawley and Linda Darling-Hammond.