EDEM 635 Fiscal Accountability in Education

Hello & Welcome !

The course focuses on accountability in schools and education systems, public responsibility, budgeting, and measures of educational performance. We will be using myCourses and @Perusall for all course work in January

Fall '23 / Winter '24: updated syllabus & materials:

Part 1: Setting the Stage (overview of broad concepts) (classes 1 to 4)

#1 Introduction and Overview
- - Making Sense of Public Schooling (Wallin 1)
  - Assignments and Projects
#2 Schools, Values, and Money
- - The Structure of Canadian Schooling (Wallin 2)
  - Fiscal Accountability Today & Tracking Financial Transactions
#3 Basic Funding Structures
- - Resources (How is Education Financed)(Wallin 5)
  - Accounting Principles (GAAP) & Introduction to Notion of Risk Management

Part 2: Fiscal Accountability (operationalizing school money)

#4 Accountability and Professionalism
- - Importance of Money in Public Education (Weiler & Serna
  - Getting to Know a Budget (Weiler & Serna)
  - Risk Management
#5 Budget Planning (Infini (?)--> funds #1to #7?)
- - Anticipating Revenues & Expenditures
  - Basics of Financial Ratio Analysis
  - Transparency & Ethics
#6 The Budget Cycle (fund #3 & #4) & Instruction (fund #5)
- - Forecasting, Accuracy, and Judgement
  - Finding our Moral Compass
  - Case Studies ??? which ones?? Developing our Understanding
#7 Budgeting for Student Activities (fund #5?)
- - mid-term check-up --> Case Studies (paper)
  - Oversight and Budget Variance Analysis
  - Leading in Age of Transparency
#8 Budgeting for School Infrastructure (capital fund #2)
- - The Big Picture: governance, politics, and fiscal accountability
#9 Budgeting for Transportation & Food Services (funds #? board level)
- - Fiscal accountabillity, leadership and management courage
  - Give time to work on Financial Transaction (i.e. simulations)

Part 3: A view of the future (classes 10 to 12 to be edited, after meeting students in class 1)

#10 Reflection: My Principles of Fiscal Accountability (preparation for final paper?)
#11 Budget Alignment with Strategic Plan
- ADD topic --> maybe go over financial/ spreadsheet simulation
#12 Trends and the Future of School Funding
#13 Wrapping Up & Not Wrapping Up
- - sharing our financial principals
  - remaining questions ... fiscal accountability
  - celebrating our success
  - how might your leadership have been shaped and influenced through this course?

EDEM 635 MyCourses Link

The final syllabus will be determined during the first class depending on the student's background and experience.

We will use @Perusall to read the texts. To get enrolled please click on the Perusall button via myCourses.

The course readings will be based on excerpts from the following books & selected articles from various journals.

most chapters

chapters 3, 11

chapters 1, 2, 5

Practical Strategies for Applied Budgeting and Fiscal Administration by Weiler and Serna
- - - The text will be used as our main resource text
Canadian Public-Sector Financial Management by Graham:
- - - The Accounting Framework (chapter 3)
    - External Reporting: Financial Statements (chapter 11)
    - Appendix (Resource)
Understanding Canadian Schools: An Introductions to Educational Administration
- - - Making Sense of Public Schools (chapter 1)
    - The Structure of Canadian Schools (chapter 2)
    - Resources for Education(How is Education Financed; chapter 5)
    - The entire text is available to the class as may be a good resource for projects and research papers.
Selected journal & newspaper articles ( approximately 10) i.e. Harvard Business Review, etc.) and newspapers (The Montreal Gazette, Wall Street Journal, etc.)

Helpful Links: About / McGill MyCourses /