Rethinking Resources for Student Success

Tough Times as Opportunity

December 2, 2011

The National Council of State Legislators

Education Resource Strategies 2

• Real spending doubled from $3,800 to $8,700 per pupil

• 80% of increase went toward adding staff positions and increasing benefits while educator salaries remained flat in real dollars*

• Spending on special education programs has gone from 4 to 21% of district budgets while regular education spending has dropped from 80% to 55%**

Spending has increased but the basic structure of schooling has remained the same

* Parthenon group analysis, 2008**Richard Rothstein, Where has the money gone? 2009

From 1970

to

2005 :

Education Resource Strategies 3

Public education jobs have continued to grow through recessions and are only now starting to fall

Source: Marguerite Roza

Education Resource Strategies 4

Budget gaps will continue due to a fundamental cost structure that continues to rise regardless of revenue

Source: Marguerite Roza, November 2011

Education Resource Strategies 5

1. Restructure one-size fits all job structure and compensationto attract needed expertise, promote teamwork and link to greater results and contribution

2. Optimize existing time to meet student and teacher needs and extend where needed

3. Rethink standardized class size model to target individual attention by strategically raising class sizes and rethinking one-size-fits-all class size models for providing individual attention

4. Shift special education spending toward early intervention and targeted individual attention in general education settings where possible

The biggest opportunities for restructuring include:

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Compensation spending is not aligned with teaching quality

District with Senior Teacher Force

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

42%

7%

27%

24%

<2%

Benefits

Responsibility & Results

Longevity

Education

Base

Source: ERS Analysis

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Struggling students don’t have enough time to catch up

TYPICAL DISTRICT PERCENT OF STUDENT TIME

BY GRADE & SUBJECT

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

ES 7-9th 10-12th

PE

Foreign Language

Electives

Science

Social Studies

Math

ELA

Source: ERS Analysis

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“One size fits all” classes mean that most students don’t get the attention they need

vs.

Larger Class

Larger Class

Larger Class

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Special education placements and delivery models vary widely across states

Note: A recent nation-wide estimate of education placement in urban settings put the national average and the urban average at 12%.

US

Idah

o

Califo

rnia

Nevad

a

Alaba

ma

Was

hing

ton

Conne

cticu

t

Tenn

esse

e

North

Car

olina

Miss

issippi

Virginia

Orego

n

Mich

igan

New M

exico

Iowa

Wisc

onsin

Florid

a

Sout

h Dak

ota

Miss

ouri

Nebra

ska

New H

amps

hire

Kent

ucky

Wyo

ming

Indian

a

Maine

Rhode

Island

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

Special Education Placements (ages 3-21 as percent of public school

enrollment)

Education Resource Strategies 10

TELL THE STORY ABOUT MISALIGNMENTS AND TRADE OFFS

REALLOCATE SCARCE STATE RESOURCES

– Drive resources - talent, time and dollars - to the neediest systems and schools

– Invest to build state and district capacity

– Restructure pension and benefit spending

BREAK DOWN BARRIERS TO DISTRICT LEVEL OPTIMIZATION

– Revise tenure, dismissal and other employment rules

– Remove or loosen seat time and class size requirements

– Combine categorical streams and/or move to dollar vs. staff based

ENCOURAGE DISTRICT INNOVATION

– Help districts develop better teacher and student measurement systems

– Provide opportunities to scale individual district efforts

– Promote new approaches and designs

– Support investment in early intervention services

What can states do?

Education Resource Strategies 11

By taking on tough choices, schools can move toward transformed practice

For the same cost a typical 25,000 student urban district can:

ERS’ District Reallocation Modeler (DREAM)

Reduce class sizes grades 4-12 by 2

Pay the top contributing 15% of teachers 10K more

OR

Give all teachers annual step increase

Allow benefits spending to increase

by 10%OR

Provide half-day pre-K for 50% of

Kindergarden students

Add 60 minutes of school day in the

25% lowest performing schools

OR