Education Funding

R.I. May Move To Link School Funding, Accountability

By Jeff Archer — May 14, 1997 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Rhode Island lawmakers are considering a plan to direct more state aid to urban districts in expectation of improved student performance and a clear accounting of how the state’s schools spend their money.

The proposal follows four months of hearings by a bicameral legislative panel charged with drafting a plan to hold schools more accountable and to revise a state funding formula with a basic structure dating back to the 1960s.

Under the measure, all 36 districts in the state would see some funding increases from their allocations this year, but most of the new money would go to a handful of urban districts.

Lawmakers must now await the release of an upcoming estimate of state revenues before holding hearings on the proposal, which they unveiled last month. The plan then could be taken up by the House Finance Committee.

The plan seeks to narrow persistent gaps in both the resources available to rich and poor districts, and their students’ performance--a common theme nationwide as many states look to link funding and educational equity.

“It’s basically an effort to use new dollars to tie education reform and education finance together,” said Gary Sasse, who co-chairs the state’s Goals 2000 panel.

A Focus on Needs

If the plan is approved, Rhode Island schools next year would receive $25 million more than the state’s current spending of $411 million. Districts would then have to draft strategies for improving their students’ scores on statewide 4th grade assessments. Those that did not show at least a 5 percent increase in the number of students scoring at proficient levels could face state intervention.

“We spend a lot of money in Rhode Island to make things work, and we have a lot of feedback that says it’s not working,” said Sen. J. Michael Lenihan, who co-chaired the panel that drafted the plan known as the Rhode Island Student Investment Initiative. Results from national assessments generally show the average performance of Rhode Island’s students lagging behind their peers’ in the rest of New England.

Traditionally, Rhode Island has doled out aid to districts based on what school systems spent in previous years, but the new initiative would base state aid more on districts’ needs. (“R.I. Officials Seek To Tie State Aid to Needs,” June 12, 1996.)

Under the plan, districts would receive additional funds based on the number of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunches, with limited English proficiency, or in grades K-3.

Plan supporters stress that with the increase in aid would come heightened scrutiny.

The measure would require all of the state’s districts to complete new standardized reports detailing how they spend their money.

By comparing test-score results from similar schools, the lawmakers hope to find which districts are getting the best education outcomes from their investment. “If one school in a particular area is doing well and another isn’t, we can ask why,” Mr. Lenihan said.

Little Tax Relief

Rhode Island’s school funding practices have been under fire since 1991, when three of the state’s poorest districts challenged them in a lawsuit.

The plaintiffs argued that the state’s overreliance on local property taxes created substantial differences in the amount of resources available to wealthy and poor districts. Providence, for example, annually spends $3,018 per pupil on instruction compared with wealthier communities such as East Greenwich, which spends $4,184, according to the state.

In 1994, lawmakers proposed a $265 million plan to close those gaps and even out the local tax burden on communities. But the legislature failed to approve the measure, and, in 1995, the state’s highest court dismissed the funding suit. (“R.I. School-Finance Formula Is Upheld,” Aug. 2, 1995.)

Supporters of the $25 million proposal now before the legislature concede that it won’t be enough to allow urban areas to lower their local tax burden. It would, however, provide additional aid to districts with high local tax rates where school spending still falls below the state median.

“We had to make a serious effort to find out how our funds are being spent before we made any kind of huge investment,” said Rep. Paul W. Crowley, the Democrat who co-chaired the panel that drafted the proposal. The plan would direct more aid to districts than a proposal made in February by Republican Gov. Lincoln C. Almond to increase state aid to districts by $12.5 million.

Related Tags:

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Special Education Webinar
How Early Adopters of Remote Therapy are Improving IEPs
Learn how schools are using remote therapy to improve IEP compliance & scalability while delivering outcomes comparable to onsite providers.
Content provided by Huddle Up
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Teaching Webinar
Cohesive Instruction, Connected Schools: Scale Excellence District-Wide with the Right Technology
Ensure all students receive high-quality instruction with a cohesive educational framework. Learn how to empower teachers and leverage technology.
Content provided by Instructure
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School Climate & Safety Webinar
How to Use Data to Combat Bullying and Enhance School Safety
Join our webinar to learn how data can help identify bullying, implement effective interventions, & foster student well-being.
Content provided by Panorama Education

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Funding Gun Violence Takes a Toll. We Need More Support, Principals Tell Congress
At a congressional roundtable, school leaders made an emotional appeal for more funds to help schools recover from gun violence.
5 min read
Principals from the Principals Recovery Network address lawmakers on the long-term effects of gun violence on Sept. 23, 2024, in Washington, D.C.
Principals address Democratic members of Congress on the long-term effects of gun violence on Sept. 23, 2024, in Washington, D.C.
Courtesy of Oversight Committee Democrats Press Office
Education Funding ESSER Is Ending. Which Investments Accomplished the Most?
Districts have until Sept. 30 to commit their last round of federal COVID aid to particular expenses.
11 min read
Illustration of falling or declining money with a frustrated man in a suit standing on the edge of a cliff the shape of an arrow dollar sign.
DigitalVision Vectors
Education Funding Explainer How One Grant Can Help Schools Recover From Shootings
Schools can leverage a little-known emergency grant to recover from violence or a natural disaster. Here’s how.
9 min read
Broken piggy bank with adhesive bandage on the table
iStock/Getty
Education Funding A Funding Lifeline for Rural Schools Is at Risk, and Not for the First Time
Rural schools near national forests rely on dedicated federal funds. But so far, lawmakers haven't renewed them.
7 min read
School bus on rural route, Owens Valley, CA.
iStock/Getty