Resource Allocation

Scott Norton, Scott, M Norton, Larry Kelly

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9781138472808
• eBook ISBN: 9781317920922
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

This book shows you how your school can maintain its high standards despite financial obstacles. It shows you how to investigate various types and sources of money available to your school; monitor the use of scarce school resources; develop a school improvement plan which incorporates financial needs; and recruit, assign, and develop teachers and staff for maximum effectiveness.

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Financing the School Program

The job of the building principal is one of the most complex, demanding, yet rewarding positions in American society. The principal today faces declining resources, changing demographics, an increasingly knowledgeable public that demands a greater voice in the operation of the school, calls for reform, and legislative bodies that enact unprecedented legislation impacting on schools. The principal must function in an environment with higher levels of expectations and accountability than ever before and at the same time participate in decision making that includes a greater array of stakeholders than previously experienced by school leaders in our society. Accountability for managing the resources of the school rests with the principal and the expectation is high that the decisions related to the allocation of those resources will be shared with the stakeholders of the school.

Every organization operates with human, material, financial, and time resources, and schools are no exception. The extent to which those resources are appropriately allocated, effectively managed, closely monitored, and their use accurately evaluated largely determines the overall success of the school and the principal. Hoyle, English, and Steffy (1990) reported that to change schools and unlock their potential, principals must think differently about resources because the manner in which resources are allocated must reflect the articulated purposes of the school.

The decade of the nineties has seen a major shift in the decision-making process and in decision-making responsibility. Whereas for years the principal was seen as the decision maker at the school, the “captain of the ship” and the ultimate authority, the nineties has witnessed a move from a centralized to a decentralized process; decisions are being made at the level closest to their implementation by those who have a vested interest in the results of those decisions. Site-based shared decision making by school improvement teams, site councils, and quality circle groups has witnessed a corresponding shift in the overall approach to school administration, school leadership, and school management. The educational leader, who has a clearly defined personal philosophy and belief system relative to school administration and who has the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed for effective group processes, most likely will be the school administrator who stands the greatest chance for success in the years to come.

Chapter 1 addresses the need for the administrator to develop a personal philosophy and basic beliefs about the decision-making process, collaborative planning, and the allocation of fiscal resources. The resources available to the principal are clearly defined with a suggested framework for conceptualizing the source, function, and use of fiscal resources. Internal as well as external forces that impact upon the utilization of resources in the school are introduced and discussed. Finally, specific models are provided that the school leader can use to: (1) summarize information about financial resources, and (2) discuss school funding and financial resource allocation with school staff, school planning teams, parents, and community members.

Today’s school leader must recognize the importance of achieving the maximum benefit from the resources received and used by the school. The time has long since passed when there is “more where that came from.” Rather, the demand for greater accountability for the use of public funds is sharply increasing. As reported in School Business Affairs, the 1995 Phi Delta Kappa/ Gallup poll of public attitudes toward public schools revealed that lack of proper financial support continued to rank as one of the top concerns, but appearing for the first time was “management of funds/programs” (1995, p. 56). At the same time, there is a corresponding demand to shift the burden of taxation from those who perceive they are paying more than their fair share or to lighten the tax load on the various taxpayer groups. The public as well as legislative and congressional officials have become increasingly concerned about the performance of students in schools, and their willingness to provide additional financial resources to the educational enterprise is waning. School leaders can no longer rely on “funding as usual.” As noted by Hoyle, English, and Steffy, “Today’s reality is that the public schools must stand in line with the other public institutions and plead for their share of the tax revenue. Taxpayers have become more skeptical of the educational establishment and, whether directly or through elected officials, demand clear answers to such questions as: (1) what are you going to do with the money? and (2) what did you do with the money we gave you last year?” (1990, p. 49). Principals must become even more knowledgeable about how schools are funded. School leaders must seek to understand more fully how individuals and groups, who control the financing of public schools, perceive schools and be able to demonstrate with even greater conviction and accuracy: (1) the ways in which the resources entrusted to them have been utilized to their greatest potential, and (2) the need for additional financial resources. Hoyle, English, and Steffy challenged educators with this comment: “Attempting to peer into the next century is, at best, impossible. School leaders, however, cannot ignore the dynamic trends that unfold before their eyes . . . educational leaders at all levels can take the initiative and fight. School leaders can strive to accomplish the following four essential conditions for the successful revitalization and reform of schools: (1) create an equitable allocation of resources, (2) embrace a future-focused school system, (3) utilize the total community, and (4) share a common vision” (p. 272). This challenge continues to reinforce the need for school leaders to understand the economics of school finance and to prepare themselves to take the initiative to obtain the financial resources needed by schools to effectively serve all students.

A Philosophy and Belief System

The decade of the nineties has witnessed a major shift in the decision-making process in public schools. In recent years, an increased public awareness of the notion of empowerment, shared decision making, participatory management, and local involvement in the operation of schools has caused schools across the country to move toward representation from all stakeholder groups who have a vested interest in the success of the school and in the decision-making processes at the school. In fact, legislation has been enacted in many states that has shifted the decision-making process from Central Office staff to the local school and from the building principal to school groups such as site councils, school improvement teams, and school effectiveness teams.

Inherent in the operation of any school is: (1) the acquisition of those bodies of knowledge required of the school administrator to effectively lead a school, (2) the skills and abilities necessary to effectively apply the knowledge, and (3) the periodic acquisition of relevant data and information applicable to the operation and success of the school. Critical to the success of the administrator, the school, and the decision-making groups is: (1) the manner in which the administrator chooses to share the knowledge and information with the stakeholders, (2) the specific knowledge and information the administrator chooses to share with the stakeholders, and (3) the skill and expertise displayed by the administrator in enabling the stakeholder groups to effectively use the knowledge and information to make appropriate decisions for the school.

Every principal must have a vision of the school in which he or she works. That vision will often include expectations concerning: (1) student success, (2) the overall climate or environment of the school, (3) the processes by which decisions are made, and (4) the ways in which the administrator envisions individuals and groups interacting together.

The principal, as school leader, is a primary recipient of information about the school. That information comes from a variety of sources such as the Central Office, the press, the staff, the students, the parents, and other principals or administrators. Such information can be solicited or unsolicited, accurate or inaccurate, favorable or unfavorable, positive or negative, realistic or unrealistic. The principal is perceived as the “one with the information” and particularly the one with the information needed for decision making. When allocating financial resources, the principal typically is the one who is the first to receive basic information. It is the principal who is notified of the total dollar allocation to the school. Often, this is a block allocation that includes the funds necessary to operate the entire school for one year. Those funds can be utilized for such needs as staffing, transportation, food services, maintenance, supplies, furniture, and equipment. It is at this juncture that the principal acts on personal beliefs and philosophy relative to information sharing. The principal may want to conceptualize an information network within the local school community and identify by name the groups represented. Figure 1.1 reveals those groups that have the greatest degree of personal interest and welfare in the overall success of the school. Today’s research clearly suggests that it is those groups that should be involved in the decision-making process of the school.

Figure 1.1 School Data And Information Network

Information sharing typically involves the principal coming to grips with such questions as: (1) what information do I have? (2) what information do I share? (3) how much information do I share? (4) with whom do I share it? and (5) what mechanism will I use to share it? These questions must be answered by the principal in order to work with the immediate staff in planning for the day-to-day and future operations of the school. These questions become even more significant when one considers today’s prevailing practice of shared decision making and the widespread involvement of committees or councils or a variety of stakeholder groups. How the principal answers each question and translates those answers into action will send important messages to the staff and to various community groups. For example, principals who choose to involve others in the decision-making process and provide them with all the relevant information will be more likely to create an atmosphere of trust and openness that encourages others to operate in a similar fashion.

Once the principal has developed a conceptual model for data-sharing, the next step is to identify a representative list of individuals, groups, or agencies within each stakeholder group from the entire school community. Figure 1.2 suggests a format the principal might consider when developing the list. As the principal prepares the list, the following occur: (1) it...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Titlepage
• Copyright
• Series Page
• Foreword
• About the Authors
• Preface
• Table of Contents
• 1 Financing the School Program
• 2 Determining Needs, Budgets, and the Allocation of Financial Resources
• 3 Managing and Controlling the Use of Financial Resources
• 4 The Allocation of Human Resources: Staffing for Educational Purposes
• 5 The Allocation of Human Resources: Effective Staff Utilization