Objection #2:“Yes, This Is A Nice Idea. But,
How Do We Pay for This”?
The second biggest innovation killer in the
world is found in the question,“How do we pay for this”? Unlike
traditional reform efforts, whole-district change cannot besustained solely through small increases in operating budgets, nor
can it be sustained with“extra”money from outside the district.
Because whole-system transformation touches all aspects of a schooldistrict’s core operations, it imposes significant resource
requirements on a district and demands a rethinking of the waycurrent resources are allocated, as well as some creative thinking
about how to use“extra”money that will be needed to jump start
systemic reform.
Because there seems to be a scarce amount of
literature on financing whole-district change, innovative,ground-level tactics, methods, and sources are needed to help
educators find the financial resources they need to transform theirschool systems into high-performing organizations of learners. What
follows are some insights about how to do this (these insights areexplored more deeply in Duffy, 2003).
Below, you will find a brief discussion of
some fundamental principles that are important for financingwhole-district change.
3These principles were developed in
collaboration with Jason Cascarino and Chris Henson. Jason isDirector of Marketing and New Initiatives for Citizen Schools in
Boston. Chris is the Assistant Superintendent for Business andFacility Services for the Metro Nashville Public Schools in
Tennessee. Chris is also the former Assistant Director for Financeand Administration for the Franklin Special School District in
Tennessee where he helped develop financial strategies to pay forwhole-system change in that district.
Many of these
principles are advocated by school finance experts (e.g.,Cascarino, 2000; Clune, 1994a; Keltner, 1998; Odden, 1998). The
fundamental principles are:
- Think creatively about securing resources. Instead of saying“We can’t do this, because…”say,“We can do this. Let’s be
creative in figuring out how?”;
- Develop a new mental model for financing school system
improvement that helps change leaders think outside the box forcreating innovative solutions to their resource allocation
challenges;
- Embed the resources to support a whole-district improvement
protocol in a school district’s organization design and its normal
operational budget;
- Develop a new mental model for financing school system
improvement that helps change leaders create innovative solutionsto resource allocation challenges (Odden, 1998);
- Fund whole-system improvement in the same way that a core
program or activity is funded; i.e., with real dollars that are apermanent part of a school district’s budget;
- Reallocate current operating money to support whole-district
improvement (Keltner, 1998);
- Over time, reduce“extra”resources for whole-district
improvement to near zero while increasing internal resources tosupport systemic improvement;
- As needed, combine federal funds in innovative ways to
directly support district-wide improvements in teaching andlearning (see Cascarino, 2000, p. 1);
- Focus thinking on financing for adequacy rather than on
financing for equity (see Clune, 1994a, 1994b);
- When seeking outside money, make sure that the requirements
and goals of the funding agency do not conflict or constrain thevision and strategic direction of the district’s transformation
journey; and,
- Employ superior communication skills so all stakeholders
recognize the true purpose of a district’s budget reallocation
strategy, how it will work, and what the benefits will be.
