Submitted by Richard G. Neal, Jan 20, 2007 11:18

See my book, School Based Management: A Detailed Guide for Successful Implementation, by Richard G. Neal, published in 1991 by National Education Service, available from Amazon. The book contains a detailed formula for an equitably differentiated student funding. The formula was installed in the 50,000 student Prince William Public Schools in 1990 - the first school district in the nation to use such an approach. The acid test for any student-based funding program is determined by what proportion of the entire school district buget follows the individual students into the schools where the money is spent by the primary stakeholders - students, parents and teachers. The main obstacles to this approach are uniolns, timid principals, central office bureaucrats, power-concerned school board members, state regulations and various federal interferences. The system can work, however, if there is good-faith commitment among all powers that student learning is the dominant factor in all decisions. RGN

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