Student-based budgeting

The growth of student-based budgeting in school districts mirrors a national trend toward more decentralized school funding where the money follows the child. In the United States, we are in a transition period, moving from funding institutions to funding students. K-12 education funding is moving closer to the funding model for higher education , where the money follows students to the public, private, or nonprofit school of their choice. We are moving away from a K-12 system funded by local resources and driven by residential assignment to a system where funding is driven by parent choice and student enrollment.

Public funding systems at the state and local level are adapting to a "school funding portability" framework, where state and local school funding is attached to the students and given directly to the institution in which the child enrolls.

Student-based budgeting proposes a system of school funding based on five key principals:

1. Funding should follow the child, on a per-student basis, to the public school that he or she attends.

2. Per-student funding should vary according to the child's needs and other relevant circumstances.

3. Funding should arrive at the school as real dollars- not as teaching positions, ratios, or staffing norms- that can be spent flexibly, with accountability systems focused more on results and less on inputs, programs or activities.

4. Principles for allocating money to school should apply to all levels of funding, including federal, state and local dollars.

5. Funding systems should be as simple as possible and made transparent to administrators, teachers, parents, and citizens.

The broad concept of student-based budgeting goes by several names, including "results-based budgeting," "equitable student funding," "per-pupil budgeting," "weighted student funding," "backpacking" and "fair-student funding." Dollars rather than staff positions follow students into schools.

From A Handbook for Student-Based Budgeting, Principal Autonomy and School Choice by Lisa Snell