Finding School Financing Information on the Web

As a teacher you should remain informed about issues and trends in school financing. As discussed in this chapter, financing decisions at every level of government can affect daily activities in your classroom.

Visit your local school district Web site. (See http://www.nasbe.org; click on "Education Links," then "State Education Agencies," and select your state. Then click on "County" or "School District" or "Find a School.") Although not all school district Web sites will include district budget information, educational goals are usually tied to fiscal goals. Look for information about priority educational issues, such as student testing, technology initiatives, special education, gifted and talented programs, and building construction and maintenance. How do these initiatives or programs affect local district budgets?

Check your state education agency site. (Go to http://www.nasbe.org; click on "Education Links," then "State Education Agencies," and select your state.) Look for Web page headings such as "Budget" or "Funding" or a search feature that will let you use these key terms. What funding priorities are there at the state department of education level? How are these priorities similar to and different from local budget priorities and issues?

Examine the U.S. Department of Education Web site at http://www.ed.gov. Explore links, such as "President and Secretary's priorities," "News and Events," "Programs and Services," and "State Education Agencies." In addition, consult the Web site of the nonpartisan Education Commission for the States at http://www.ecs.org for "Daily News Roundup," "Congress and Bush Education Plan," "Education Issues," and "This Week's Electronic Newsletter." How are federal funding priorities and issues similar to and different from state and local priorities and issues? Of all these fiscal priorities and issues, which do you feel are the most important to the education of children, and why?



Other sites that might be helpful in your search for school financing information include:

Conditions of Education
The "Societal Support for Education" section of the annual publication, Conditions of Education, from the National Center for Educational Statistics, reports on public and private expenditures for education at a variety of grade levels.

Census Bureau
The U.S. Census Bureau web site offers Public Elementary and Secondary Education Finance Data.

City School Districts
The American Federation of Teachers maintains a list of the addresses and telephone numbers of school districts in cities with populations of over 100,000.

CPRE School Finance Project
The Consortium for Policy Research in Education has undertaken a massive research project on school financing. You can find out about the ongoing project and some of its results, including reports of specific districts' finances, at this site.

Educational Finance Statistics Center
The Department of Education's National Center for Educational Statistics maintains this site filled with school financial statistics.

School District Locator
The National Center for Educational Statistics maintains a database of the addresses and telephone numbers for all public schools and school districts in the country.