Critical Resource Theory (CReT) offers an innovative critical perspective on education funding. This new conceptual lens enables school leaders and policy makers to analyze quantitatively school funding policies and practices as a catalyst to make them more equitable. It offers a useful orientation and tool to increase fairness and opportunity in a society that systemically advantages the dominant group with ample resources while it disadvantages others by withholding them. Presenting a balance between the theoretical and its practical application to improve educational outcomes for marginalized children, chapters introduce and discuss this new extension of Critical Theory, validate it as a value-added and complete theory, place it within a broader philosophical framework, and construct its historical, social, political, and educational contexts.
Designed for use in school finance and educational policy courses, this book presents an analytical tool that leaders, scholars, and policy makers can use to alter how they view public funding policies and practices – to question their assumptions about funding and resource allocations, look for, identify, and assess inadequacies and inequities, share their findings, and use these data to shape policy recommendations for increased fiscal fairness and improved student outcomes.
Author(s): Leslie S. Kaplan, William A. Owings
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 184
City: New York
Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Detailed Chapter Contents
List of Figures, Tables, Cases
Preface
Acknowledgements
About the Authors
Chapter 1: Critical Resource Theory
Introduction
Case Studies Build Theories
Case Study 1: The “Alpha and Omega Syndrome”
Case Study 2: Adjusting a State’s Education FundingFormula
What the Case Studies Suggest
Taxpayer Dollars Apportioned Differently to Different Communities
Resource Allocation Decisions Allow Political Bargaining
School Inequities are Normalized
Applying a CReT Lens
Critical Resource Theory
CReT as a Value-Added Theory
CReT as a Complete Theory
What
How
Why
Who/Where/When
Conclusion
Notes
Chapter 2: Critical Resource Theory’s “Family Tree”
Introduction
Critical Theory
Critical Theory and Empirical Study
Criticism of Critical Theory
Critical Theory in Education
Criticism of Critical Theory in Education
Critical Race Theory
Critical Race Theory and Education Finance
Critical Race Theory and Empiricism
Criticism of Critical Race Theory
Resource Dependence Theory
Criticism of Resource Dependence Theory
Pulling It All Together
Conclusion
Notes
Chapter 3: Critical Resource Theory and Education Funding Inequities
Introduction
Money – and How It’s Spent – Matters in Education
School Funding Inadequacies and Inequities
Property Taxes and School Funding
The Politics of State Education Funding Formulas
Disparities in Funding, Disparities in Educational Quality
Using Critical Resource Theory to Remedy Education Funding Inequities
Question Existing Practices
Gather and Organize Relevant Data
Construct Easily Understood Graphic and Narrative Comparisons for Analyses
Communicate Findings to Stakeholders
Advocate for What You Need
Conclusion
Notes
Chapter 4: From Courthouse to Schoolhouse: Determining School Funding Equity and Adequacy
Introduction
Equity and Adequacy
Landmark School Funding Cases
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)
Serrano v. Priest (CA, 1971)
San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodrigues (TX, 1973)
Robinson v. Cahill (NJ, 1973)
Abbott v. Burke (NJ, 1985–2011)
Rose v. Council for Better Education (KY, 1989)
Campaign for Fiscal Equity v. State of New York (NY, 1993–2006, 2021)
Outcomes of School Finance Litigation
Case Study 3: Conducting School Equity Audits
Question Existing Practices
Gather and Organize Relevant Data
Provide Easily Understood Graphic and Narrative Comparisons for Analyses
Communicate Findings to Stakeholders
Advocate for What You Need
Conclusion
Notes
Chapter 5: Colorism, Caste, Structural Racism, and Racial Colorblindness
Introduction
Race as Policy in the United States
Colorism and Equality
An American Caste System
Racism and Caste in the United States
An American Dilemma
The Eight Pillars of Caste
Structural Racism in Public Policy
Housing Policy
Segregated Neighborhoods, Schools, and Student Outcomes
Racial Colorblindness Theory
Color Evasion and Power Evasion
Color Evasion
Power Evasion
From Normalization to Increased Equity
Conclusion
Notes
Chapter 6: Education: Socializing Children for American Democracy
Introduction
Education as Socialization for American Democracy
Public Education in the Early American Nation
Public Education for a Growing Nation
Education as a Fundamental (Constitutional) Right
Research on Education’s Socialization for Democracy
Balancing Societal Needs with Individual Wants
Conclusion
Notes
Index
