Why the school funding problem?

There's an article in the Fall 2008 edition of the Lafollette Policy Report that everyone with an interest in school funding should read. It's by Professor Andrew Reschovsky.

Dr. Reschovsky describes the heart of the problem very well. He writes:

"More resources are needed to
achieve improvements in the education performance
of children from poor families, students with disabilities,
and students who enter school with limited English
proficiency. Because of economies of scale, costs
per student are higher than average in small school districts.
In many cases, especially in northern Wisconsin,
the consolidation of schools and school districts is infeasible
because it would require extraordinarily long
bus rides for many students. Finally, to hire teachers of
comparable quality, some school districts must pay
higher than average salaries to compensate for the
higher costs of living in some areas of the state."

The challenge we all face is how to address this in a time of economic hardship for the state. Our need for well-educated people is greater than ever--but we're unlikely to have additional money to put into education. This will call for new, creative approaches to achieving our goals.

Dr. Reschovsky's article can be found at http://www.lafollette.wisc.edu/publications/policyreports/policyreport18_1.pdf