With America’s public schools unlikely to return to past funding levels in the near future, the District Management Council (http://www.dmjournal.org/spending-money-wisely/) released a policy guide this week to help districts thrive, rather than just survive, within the constraints of their new fiscal realities.
In the main report, “Spending Money Wisely: Getting the Most From School District Budgets,” the council lists 10 high-impact opportunities that it says helps school systems “do more with less.” The Boston-based nonprofit, which helps its member districts with management issues, will begin posting a set of papers outlining specific steps to implement the cost-saving measures, on its website.
The Top 10 steps that school districts can take to manage their funds more effectively, according to the District Management Council’s latest research:
1. Calculating the academic return on investment of existing programs
2. Managing student-enrollment projections to meet class-size targets
3. Evaluating and adjusting remediation and intervention staffing levels
4. Adopting politically acceptable ways to increase class size or teachers’ workload
5. Spending federal entitlement grants to leverage their flexibility
6. Adopting more-efficient and higher-quality reading programs
7. Improving the cost-effectiveness of professional development
8. Rethinking how items are purchased
9. Lowering the cost of extended learning time
10. Targeting new investments by eliminating inefficient and unsuccessful strategies
One overall conclusion from this list is that evaluating current systems to find flexibility and chances for reform is a crucial strategy.
To read more go to: http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2014/05/07/30savings.h33.html
