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Hello, Great Lakes Center subscriber:
A new report published by the Heritage Foundation argues public school leaders are pushing for excessive federal relief due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The report argues this relief would come at the expense of other budget priorities, such as defense spending.
However, a new Think Twice Review by the National Education Policy Center found the report’s recommendations present selective or false school funding data that can easily mislead readers during the public health crisis. Read on to learn more.
Dr. Gretchen Dziadosz
Executive Director
Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice
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Think Twice Reviewer Jack Schneider, an assistant professor of education at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and director of research for the Massachusetts Consortium for Innovative Education Assessment, reviewed “Financial Crisis Looming for K-12 Schools? Flexibility Needed, Not Bailouts”. Schneider found the report does not utilize evidence-based research to support its claim that certain programs should be prioritized ahead of schools for additional federal funding.
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Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, schools are facing budget shortfalls, leading to more difficult questions about how to fund public education going forward.
The federal government has identified stimulus funds for K-12 schools, though only $13.5 billion of the $2 trillion Coronavirus Air, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act has been earmarked for public education.
The report claims calls for additional funding from the federal government for public education are the work of “special interest lobbyists”. Instead of increasing school spending, the report recommends renegotiating teacher contracts, trimming administrative spending and giving schools more discretion on how to spend their reduced budgets.
The report says educational expenditures have risen during the last two decades, which it blames on “unreasonable demands” made by teachers’ unions. Schneider found the Heritage Foundation report’s findings don’t represent the facts on federal school funding and utilize selective data to make a flawed case.
Schneider points out spending on public education rose moderately between the 2008-2009 and 2016-2017 school years, which represents the most recent data available. The average annual increase during those school years was under 0.4%.
Schneider also found the average teacher salary since the 1999-2000 school year has declined by 1.6%, suggesting teachers are not driving spending increases. Schneider found the report’s findings don’t match research showing short-term federal relief for K-12 public education is likely to prevent job loss and stabilize the economy.
Overall, Schneider found the report doesn’t use reliable evidence or research to contribute to an intelligent policy discussion.
Read the full review on the Great Lakes Center website or on the National Education Policy Center website.
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The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, attempts to make a case against teachers’ unions and what it calls “bloated education bureaucracy” throughout the report. The report relies on misleading or erroneous data in its argument against providing more funding to public education as schools plan to reopen nationwide.
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TALKING POINTS TO REMEMBER
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- A new report by the Heritage Foundation relies on selective data that misleads readers about school funding in its argument against the need for more funding for public education amid COVID-19.
- The report claims requests for additional federal funding for schools are the work of “special interest lobbyists,” and that education expenses have risen because of demands by teachers’ unions. Its research doesn’t support this argument.
- The Heritage Foundation’s reliance on selective data makes the report unreliable for policymakers, as it doesn’t use evidence or research to contribute to an intelligent policy discussion.
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