This book examines the fundamental role of politics in funding our
public schools and fills a conceptual imbalance in the current
literature in school finance and educational policy. Unlike those
who are primarily concerned about cost efficiency, Kenneth Wong
specifies how resources are allocated for what purposes at
different levels of the government. In contrast to those who focus
on litigation as a way to reduce funding gaps, he underscores
institutional stalemate and the lack of political will to act as
important factors that affect legislative deadlock in school
finance reform.
Wong defines how politics has sustained various types of "rules"
that affect the allocation of resources at the federal, state, and
local level. While these rules have been remarkably stable over the
past twenty to thirty years, they have often worked at
cross-purposes by fragmenting policy and constraining the education
process at schools with the greatest needs.
Wong's examination is shaped by several questions. How do these
rules come about? What role does politics play in retention of the
rules? Do the federal, state, and local governments espouse
different policies? In what ways do these policies operate at
cross-purposes? How do they affect educational opportunities? Do
the policies cohere in ways that promote better and more equitable
student outcomes?
Wong concludes that the five types of entrenched rules for
resource allocation are rooted in existing governance arrangements
and seemingly impervious to partisan shifts, interest group
pressures, and constitutional challenge. And because these rules
foster policy fragmentation and embody initiatives out of step with
the performance-based reform agenda of the 1990s, the outlook for
positive change in public education is uncertain unless fairly
radical approaches are employed.
Wong also analyzes four allocative reform models, two based on
the assumption that existing political structures are unlikely to
change and two that seek to empower actors at the school level. The
two models for systemwide restructuring, aimed at intergovernmental
coordination and/or integrated governance, would seek to clarify
responsibilities for public education among federal, state, and
local authorities-above all, integrating political and educational
accountability. The other two models identified by Wong shift
control from state and district to the school, one based on local
leadership and the other based on market forces. In discussing the
guiding principles of the four models, Wong takes care to identify
both the potential and limitations of each.
Written with a broad policy audience in mind, Wong's book should
appeal to professionals interested in the politics of educational
reform and to teachers of courses dealing with educational policy
and administration and intergovernmental relations.
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