Getting the Most Bang for the Education Buck

Book excerpt: How might school funds be spent more effectively in today’s uncertain environment? This up-to-date volume explores a range of ideas to help schools and districts better manage their resources, including: how to rethink staffing and management to get more value for employee compensation; how policymakers might revisit pension arrangements in ways that control costs while putting more teacher compensation in the form of take-home pay; how educators and policymakers can leverage technology as a performance-enhancer and not just a cost-cutting opportunity; and how districts might frame spending options differently in order to more properly assess the needs and preferences of students and families. As American education enters the next decade of challenges, including shortfalls due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Getting the Most Bang From the Education Buck will be a valuable guide for how to spend dollars wisely and well. Contributors: Chad Aldeman, Bryan Hassel, Emily Hassel, Matthew Ladner, Nathan Levenson, Michael Q. McShane, Scott Milam, Karen Hawley Miles, Katie Morrison-Reed, Marguerite Roza, Carrie Stewart, and Adam Tyner. “Finally, a book that gets beyond the academic debate about whether money matters in education (spoiler alert: It does) to offer suggestions for how to make scarce education dollars matter more. This book offers practical solutions to real-world problems like outdated staffing models, declining enrollments, and increasing special education costs, along with frameworks for tackling other tough resource-allocation challenges.” —Carrie Conaway, senior lecturer on education, Harvard Graduate School of Education