Future of Educational Finance
Future of Educational Finance
Grand Canyon University: EDA-535
October, 2013
Gary Marx stated “identifying, monitoring and considering the implications of trends is one of the most basic processes for creating the future” (Stevenson, 2010 p. 1). The world of education is forever changing at a pace that gets more rapid as the years go on. The decisions made in the past have laid the foundation of education today, as will recent changes affect the future. Programs such as choice schooling and No Child Left Behind will impact school funding. Rulings such as the Lemon Test and separation of church and state will impact decisions that can potentially result in litigation and court rulings dictating educational decisions. In his work regarding educational trends, Kenneth Stevenson (2010) stated,
“a continuing recession, escalating political polarization, rising racial/ethnic tensions, a growing national debt, and a widening divide between the haves and the have nots portend a future fraught with unprecedented challenges to and clashes over the form and substance of public education in America” (p.1).
Analysis of the Lemon Test
The Lemon Test was created by Chief Justice Warren Berger as a result of the court case Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971) and is based on the principles stated in Everson v. Board of Education. The case of Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971) centered on Rhode Island’s Salary Supplement Act. This act approved a salary supplement of up to fifteen percent for teachers who taught secular subjects in private religious schools or non-public elementary schools. The courts determined that approximately twenty-five percent of Rhode Island’s students attended non-public schools. Furthermore, ninety-five percent of the parochial schools were Roman Catholic. Pennsylvania offered a similar program that reimbursed non-public schools for expenses related to secular education and required schools to account for the expenses separately. Approximately twenty percent of
Grand Canyon University: EDA-535
October, 2013
Gary Marx stated “identifying, monitoring and considering the implications of trends is one of the most basic processes for creating the future” (Stevenson, 2010 p. 1). The world of education is forever changing at a pace that gets more rapid as the years go on. The decisions made in the past have laid the foundation of education today, as will recent changes affect the future. Programs such as choice schooling and No Child Left Behind will impact school funding. Rulings such as the Lemon Test and separation of church and state will impact decisions that can potentially result in litigation and court rulings dictating educational decisions. In his work regarding educational trends, Kenneth Stevenson (2010) stated,
“a continuing recession, escalating political polarization, rising racial/ethnic tensions, a growing national debt, and a widening divide between the haves and the have nots portend a future fraught with unprecedented challenges to and clashes over the form and substance of public education in America” (p.1).
Analysis of the Lemon Test
The Lemon Test was created by Chief Justice Warren Berger as a result of the court case Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971) and is based on the principles stated in Everson v. Board of Education. The case of Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971) centered on Rhode Island’s Salary Supplement Act. This act approved a salary supplement of up to fifteen percent for teachers who taught secular subjects in private religious schools or non-public elementary schools. The courts determined that approximately twenty-five percent of Rhode Island’s students attended non-public schools. Furthermore, ninety-five percent of the parochial schools were Roman Catholic. Pennsylvania offered a similar program that reimbursed non-public schools for expenses related to secular education and required schools to account for the expenses separately. Approximately twenty percent of
References: A Nation At Risk: The Imperative For Educational Reform (1983). Ladd, H. 2001. “School-Based Educational Accountability Systems: The Promise and Pitfalls.” National Tax Journal 54 (2): 385-400. Leachman, Michael and Mai, Chris (2014). Most states funding school less than before the recession. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. May 2014. Meyer, L., G. Orlofsky, R. Skinner, and S. Spicer. 2002. “The State of the States.” Quality Counts 2001. January 10..