More AIR News

For IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 6, 2008

Contact:
Palo Alto: Jay G. Chambers (650) 843-8111
Larisa Shambaugh (650) 843-8269

Washington, D.C.: Larry McQuillan
202-403-5119

A Study of San Francisco and Oakland School Districts Finds Support for
“Student-Based” Funding Policies, Despite Increased Workload

Washington, D.C. – A new study by the American Institutes for Research (AIR) that examined the implementation of “student-based” funding policies in California’s San Francisco and Oakland school districts found that although the policies create extra work, they are preferred by district- and school-level staff and, to some degree, result in directing additional funding to schools with greater needs.

The study was funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and conducted by AIR’s school financing experts based in the organization’s Palo Alto, Calif., office.

School districts across the country are exploring student-based funding policies (also called “weighted student formula” policies) as a way to increase efficiency, provide schools greater control over their budgets, and address differences in student needs across schools. Student-based funding policies distribute funds to schools based on student needs, as opposed to the traditional budgeting model that funds schools based on the number of staff needed at the school.

In addition, these policies give individual schools more control over their budgets, based on the theory that school staff are in a better position than central district authorities to determine how best to utilize the resources they receive to meet students need.

“Student-based funding offers districts an intriguing way to serve students better,” according to the study’s principal investigator, Dr. Jay Chambers. “We found that despite the challenges of making these big changes, individuals at all levels within the Bay Area’s two biggest school districts strongly support this approach.”

AIR researchers conducted interviews, focus groups, and analyses of district expenditures to compare the two districts’ policies to each other and to the previous traditional budgeting model. The study found that:

• Although student-based funding policies require more work, school and district respondents voiced an overwhelming preference for the student-based funding policy over the traditional budgeting approach.
• High-poverty middle and high schools in San Francisco and elementary schools in Oakland saw increased spending at higher needs schools after the policy was implemented.
• Even with strong support within the district, student-based funding requires ongoing review and adjustment.
• These policies create the opportunity and demand to improve other district-wide problems, and the increased transparency of student-based funding increases the desire of schools for more information.
• The large number of categorical programs at state and federal levels inhibits innovation and reinforces a compliance-oriented mentality.
• California’s state budgeting process has a significant impact on schools’ ability to plan and allocate resources. Indeed, student-based funding policies do not solve the problem of inadequate levels of funding from federal, state, and local sources.
• California provides very little support to student-based funding districts, making it difficult for other districts to adopt such a policy.

The full report, A Tale of Two Districts: A Comparative Study of Student-Based Funding and School-Based Decision Making in San Francisco and Oakland Unified School Districts, is available at www.air.org.

About AIR

Established in 1946, with headquarters in Washington, D.C., the American Institutes for Research (AIR) is an independent, nonpartisan not-for-profit organization that conducts behavioral and social science research and delivers technical assistance both domestically and internationally in the areas of health, education, and workforce productivity. For more information, visit www.air.org.

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