The Joint Legislative Committee on Public School Funding Formulas has been meeting for three years. Yesterday consultants released recommendations to strengthen North Carolina’s School Funding System. The consultant’s presentation and the consultant’s report can be found here and here.
Was it worth the wait? Hard to tell. The report is a slog through the convoluted world of school finance. It includes both good and bad. It also contains a number of recommendations worth serious consideration. These include: 1) providing teacher allotment salaries to districts in one lump sum and allowing districts to spend the money on anything the district wants, similar to a block grant; and 2) modifying the statewide teacher salary schedule to replace education level and years of experience with other factors such as formal evaluation or student performance.
It’s still a long road to seeing any of these recommendations become reality but it’s a start. Any recommendations that give local authorities more control and enhance accountability is a step in the right direction.
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