Class notes from Weds. April 8, 2009.

Dr. Pope began class with a power point about School Finance.

3 different types of tax
· Property tax – taxes we pay on our house and/or land (usually assessed based on
county/school district). There are also taxes on personal items such as car, boat, etc.
· Sales tax – taxes we pay on what we purchase. 3% on groceries and 6% on most other
items.
· Income tax – state takes it out of our check.

Main one that funds K12 is sales tax. It was property tax until 3 years ago.

Assessed property value x millage x 4% (York county calculation) = tax owed put into school operations
High property value leads to plenty of tax which leads to plenty of money for school.

Low property value leaves schools with high millage or low millage
Low property value and high millage – more tax $ - small school budgets
Low property value and low millage – very little tax $ - very small school budgets

People are reluctant to move to areas where they have to pay high tax rates. The bigger the rate or millage the more you pay.

Problem with property tax:
High property value areas tend to have better schools

Example Dr. Pope gave was Corridor of Shame
In 2005, schools on I-95 corridor sued the state of S.C. because they were not receiving adequate funds, and thought every child was entitled to an education. After this lawsuit, South Carolina began funding school operations by sales tax.
South Carolina did this because:
· It recognized inequality in ways of funding
· Pressured by lawsuit and publicity (knew they had to do something)
· Elimination of school funding by property tax benefited rich people

School operations money is now received based on the following standards:
· From 2005 on the school budgets would be increased by the same percentage as the State’s rate of growth. In 2005, the rate of growth was 4%. This meant that in 2006 the school budget was the 2005 budget plus an additional 4% of that amount. From then on the school operations budgets would increase by the state’s rate of growth. This is argued against by the more prosperous districts because they may see growth rates of say 12% like Fort Mill (2005). However, there budget was still only increased by 4%.

Now, we have moved to sales tax, no one is getting the money. People have stopped buying. States that rely on property tax are in a little better shape now. An example Dr. Pope gave was, if you lose your job, you will stop buying. You will still have property tax to pay on your house. The priority becomes keeping your home rather than buying new things.

Dr. Pope also informed us that Education is not in the U.S. Constitution. There’s “freedom of speech,” but it doesn’t say “freedom for education for all” or anything of the sort directly. However, education is mentioned in most if not all state constitution.

Non-tax revenue for education:
· Bonds – S.C. borrows money to pay for school operations. Must be paid back and is usually
done so by increasing taxes.
· Lottery – Pays for opportunities within higher education (the Hope or Life Scholarship will
reduce tuition at a Tech school). This means the low and lower-middle class is subsidizing
the higher education of the upper-middle and upper class.

South Carolina, Texas, New Jersey, and California (Prop. 13 and tax revolt of 1971) all have had state or federal Supreme Court cases rule that property taxes should not fund school operations.

School choice:
Milton Friedman
· Competition makes us better
· Schools are a monopoly; competition would force them to improve
· Not a complete monopoly, since better off parents could afford to opt-out of public schools
and send their children to private school

James Coleman (1981)
· Private schools did a better job educating and are often less expense
· Private schools can self select
· Recent findings show that when controlling the socio-economic status (SES) of the student
population the schools do as well or better than private schools.

Versions of choice
· Magnet schools – schools that have a theme such as music, art, foreign language. Have
admissions criteria. May do enrollment by lottery. If the school fails it may change its
program of study or return the being a general public school.
· Open enrollment – eliminated attendance/enrollment zones. Usually leads to high schools
recruiting athletes. Almost passed into law in S.C.
· Vouchers – public and private schools. Advocated by Friedman. Take tax money paid and
return it as a credit to be used towards paying tuition at any school. Gives choices to all
people of any SES, but the voucher of those from a lower SES is often not enough to pay for
private school. Use vouchers in Minneapolis St. Paul and Cleveland. Continually on the
docket in the S.C. legislature though it has never passed into law.
· Charter schools – public school, operates under contract with the school district (usually 3-
5 years). Charter allows for freedom from some regulation(s). An advantage is that it
fosters community involvement by those families connected with the school. Usually don’t
provide meals or bussing. Have to produce academic achievement or the contract/charter
will be revoked. If revoked it can return to operating as a general public school. Charter
schools were a part of President Obama’s platform when running for president.
· Home schools – parents educate their children at home.
· Virtual schools – online courses for K-12 students. There is one in S.C. used by high school
students for credit recovery or completion of education by expelled students. May also be
sed for AP courses…take the course online and the test at the school.


Dr. Pope pointed out 2 trends that Tyack and Cuban address:
Schools role is the socialization of children.
Schools provide basis for fixing national crises (primarily economic crises since the 1980’s). In the 1950’s there was the crisis of communism and in the 1960’s it was integration and civil rights.
From the 1980’s and on: In 1980, Japan started its rise as an economic power scared Americans. This meant the emergence of Japanese cars in the U.S. markets as a response to the oil crisis of the 1970’s. Also, the emergence of Japanese technology into U.S. homes.
U.S. schools respond by encouraging less play and more/higher standards and requirements for the purpose of competing on the economic market.

Grammar of schooling – comes from social pressures and ideologies of teaching by people and teachers of the early 20th century. The grammar has since seen little change and it doesn’t encourage new ways of teaching.

Dr. Pope brought up the point that T&C ignore the effects of Brown vs. Board of Education. He says that this may be due to the fact that integrating schools was not something that could be accomplished through tinkering.
· Integration was not an idea that could be simply grafted onto the norms of the schools of
the 1960’s.
· Some schools simply closed down. Others took 5, 10, 15 years to implement integration.
· In 1960’s, in the south, a lot of private schools were started due to rejecting the idea of
integration.

FOR NEXT WEEK:
Read chapters 4 and 5 of Tyack and Cuban and Currin chapters 22 and 23.