School Finance Essay

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In regards to school finance, the ultimate goal of school administrators is to provide all students with the most cost effective, comprehensive education that meets all federal, state, and local requirements and that reflects the values and beliefs within the community. This means that it is an expectation for schools to equip all students equally with the best possible educational opportunities that a community is willing to furnish. However, to accomplish this, school administrators must be able to sustain school programs throughout various economic periods.
The challenge in school finance is to find an economic equilibrium or a balance between school and program funding and long-term financial stability. In order to work toward the goal …show more content…

Because members of school administration are entrusted with the management of public funds, administrators must act ethically and with integrity to ensure school funds are utilized responsibly and that policies that affect the district’s financial integrity are closely examined. Therefore, policies, such as approval of expenditures and payroll, finance and goal setting, and the preparation of the budget, that directly impact the financial integrity of a school district should be carefully …show more content…

Since its inception, the American public education system has undergone various reforms and equitable and adequate funding has been a reemerging issue in school finance. The challenge of providing equitable and adequate funding in the American public schools was addressed as early as the mid 1800’s. Horace Mann, the Father of the Common School, was influential in advocating the need for equity and adequacy in public schools. “However,” writes Baines (2006, p.269), “perhaps his greatest contribution was the idea that American children should be provided with a free, nonselective, academically challenging, fair, and morally just system of schooling. In his appeals to the public, he posited schools as a way to unify and edify a diverse

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