Finance in Education

1
Finance in Education

• Chapter 10

2
Controversial Issue

• The courts have usually disallowed direct state
  financial support to private and parochial
  schools.

3
Controversial Issue

• Those who favor direct public aid to nonpublic
  schools base their arguments on the following
• Parents should have freedom of choice in the
  education of their children.
• There is o evidence to support the fear that
  divisiveness in education will be caused by the
  existence and operation of nonpublic schools.
• The failure of nonpublic schools would create a
  tremendous impact on the financing of public
  education.
• The free exercise clause of the First Amendment
  allows such actions.

4
Controversial Issue

• Opponents of direct aid to nonpublic schools
  argue that
• Parochial aid represents a backward step, since
  this country once maintained such a system of
  education but has since altered the concept.
• Private schools tend to discriminate against
  students in terms of race and religious
  background.
• Such a practice violates the establishment clause
  of the First Amendment.
• Solution of the problem should be based on
  principle, not on economic considerations.

5
The Law and Church-State Relations

• Legal Provisions for separation
• The U.S. Constitution Article IV, Section 3, and
  especially the First Amendment that was include
  in 1971 placed in U.S. law the principles of
  freedom of religion and separation of church and
  state.
• Article VI provides that no religious test
  should ever be required as a qualification to any
  office our public trust under the US
• The First Amendment declares Congress shall make
  no law respecting an establishment of religion,
  or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.

6
The Law and Church-State Relations

• The principle of separation has generally been
  observed, but interpretation of it has sometimes
  changed, The courts have sometimes supported a
  child-benefit theory and some forms of tax credit
  payments for elementary and secondary school
  students, if such action passed the Lemon test.

7
Educational Choice

• The negative claims against the public schools
  have included their aleged discrimination against
  the gifted and the disabled, their presumed
  failure to teach students fundamental skills, and
  their reputation for fostering inequality among
  the races and between the sexes.
• These and numerous other charges have resulted in
  various proposals for radical changes in the
  organization and administration of schools.

8
Educational Choice

• Public schools offer some choices for students,
  including open enrollment, magnet schools,
  cooperation with home schools, postsecondary
  concurrent programs, schools within a school,
  alternative schools in and out of the district,
  high school graduation incentives, charter
  schools, and area learning centers.
• Parents are looking for more freedom in selection
  outside the public schools
• The areas of choice that are most prevalent in
  the country center on vouchers, tax credits, and
  charter schools.

9
Educational Vouchers

• It is claimed that such an arrangement would
  allow parents a choice among the educational
  programs available to their children by paying
  the amount required above the cost allowed by the
  voucher. The schools could be of any type
  private, parochial, or public provided they met
  the established state standards.

10
Tax Credits

• Tax credits would indirectly divert some public
  funds to the support of nonpublic schools

11
Charter Schools

• Charter schools are publicly financed but largely
  independent schools. They generally are created
  around a specific teaching philosophy, subject
  areas, or other special emphasis and attract
  students throughout a district who want an
  alternative to the regular public schools.

12
Controversy Not Solved

• The church-state controversy has had and will
  continue to have an important effect on state
  school finance systems. Nonpublic schools, like
  public schools, are being adversely affected by
  continually rising costs, which sometimes force
  nonpublic schools to discontinue their services.
  This places a greater financial burden on the
  public shcools.