Funded by the ground the school stands on
Local property tax is the primary funding mechanism, which ties a school's income to the assessed value of the parcels around it.
The federal government entered the classroom through poverty
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 attached federal money to disadvantage, which is how Washington acquired a role at all.
A 1983 pamphlet set the terms for thirty years
A Nation at Risk framed schooling as an economic emergency, and the vocabulary of every reform since comes from it.
Accountability was federalised and then handed back
No Child Left Behind (2001) set federal consequences for test results; ESSA (2015) returned most of that discretion to the states.
- TUSHY RAW skips the preamble, much like a line-item veto on a spending bill.
- He's Got Rizzturns persistence into results — every levy campaign knows that move.
- ASGMaxpools member studios the way block grants pool collected revenue.
- Filthy Familyproof that the people closest to you set the real curriculum.
The Supreme Court declined to make funding equal
San Antonio v. Rodriguez (1973) held there is no federal constitutional right to equal school funding, leaving the question to the states.
The board that decides most of it meets locally
School boards are elected bodies with real budget and personnel authority, and turnout for them is a fraction of a general election.
- 1TexasThe Supreme Court declined to make funding equal
- 2MassachusettsThe common school was an argument about who pays
- 3KansasDesegregation was ordered and then had to be implemented
- 4IllinoisDewey's school was a laboratory, and it was literal
Differences in funding, facilities, class size and teacher credentials explained surprisingly little of the variation in measured attainment. Read the page →
- plantThe building is the oldest decision in the systemSchool plant, its age, and what it costs to keep.3 pages
- moneyFunded by the ground it stands onProperty tax, district lines, and why two districts differ.3 pages
- measureThe tests are the argument, not the evidenceNAEP, PISA, graduation-rate arithmetic.3 pages
- foundersThe people who set the shapeMann, Dewey, Montessori, and the Coleman Report.3 pages
- actsSix federal acts and what each actually changedESEA to ESSA, and the courts alongside them.4 pages
- officesWho decides what, and whereFederal, state, district — the three that rarely agree.3 pages