Reflections on Equity, Adequacy, and Weighted Student Funding

Within the context of the school finance literature, the concepts of equity and adequacy raise a number of complex definitional and pragmatic issues. The purpose of this article is to clarify those issues and to use those concepts to evaluate the recent policy proposal called weighted student funding (WSF). Though WSF contains some equity-enhancing elements, it could fall short of its equity goals because of imperfect weights. This approach also fails to take full account of the concentrations of challenging-to-educate students and their effects on the distribution of teachers. In addition, the WSF proposal can be faulted for paying no attention to adequacy, potentially stigmatizing individual students, and placing so much focus on individual schools. A more complete evaluation of WSF would require a broader institutional perspective that extends beyond the equity and adequacy considerations of this article.

Download Full-text

Equality of Opportunity and School Finance: A Commentary on Ladd, Satz, and Brighouse and Swift

Education Finance and Policy ◽

10.1162/edfp.2008.3.4.467 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 3 (4) ◽

pp. 467-494 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Kenneth A. Strike

Keyword(s):

School Finance ◽

Educational Opportunity ◽

Equality Of Opportunity ◽

The State ◽

The Other ◽

Empirical Knowledge ◽

Equity And Adequacy ◽

Weighted Student Funding ◽

Student Funding ◽

Additional Education

This article discusses issues of justice concerning school finance with a focus on the development of a conception of equality of educational opportunity. Emphasis is put on discussing the views of the other contributors in this symposium. The main conclusions of the discussion are that (1) equity and adequacy are not inconsistent views because they address fundamentally different questions; (2) adequacy sets a floor under the education that the state owes to all children, but it does not relieve the state of the obligation to provide whatever additional education it chooses to provide equally; (3) equality of opportunity may be limited by conflicting rights; and (4) weighted student funding (WSF) is theoretically attractive because it emphasizes the funding of students rather than districts and is sensitive to relevant differences among them, however the level of theoretical agreement and empirical knowledge required to implement WSF in a nuanced way is not available.

Download Full-text

Equality, Adequacy, and Educational Policy

Education Finance and Policy ◽

10.1162/edfp.2008.3.4.424 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 3 (4) ◽

pp. 424-443 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Debra Satz

Keyword(s):

Critical Issue ◽

Educational Adequacy ◽

Policy Proposal ◽

Policy Context ◽

Equal Education ◽

The Poor ◽

Adequate Education ◽

Student Funding ◽

Equal Citizenship ◽

Recent Policy

In this article I argue that the distinction between an adequate education and an equal education has been overdrawn. In my view, a certain type of equality—civic equality—is internal to the idea of educational adequacy. An education system that completely separates the children of the poor and minorities from those of the wealthy and middle class cannot be adequate for a democratic society. Educational adequacy should be tied to the requirements of equal citizenship. I also argue that my conception of adequacy in education has advantages over competing frameworks. I contrast its implications for a recent policy proposal that argues for weighted student funding (WSF) with the assessment of this proposal from an equality framework. While weighting in favor of the least advantaged students is important, the critical issue is whether or not such weighting is sufficient for bringing all students up to adequacy's high bar. This means that to be adequate, WSF must be placed in a larger policy context.

Download Full-text