Funding for American Public Schools

choi

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I happen to have lived in Boston/Cambridge for two decades. The neighboring state, New Hamshire, has been in the forefront of school funding reform.

(A) From the very beginning, Americans (of course, before the Revolution in 1776, all Americans were B5itish citizens) emphasized local control--and therefore funding--of education.

(1) American forefathers thought highly of public goods.

Puritans came to Massachusetts in 1620. Within years, they established the first public park, public beach, public library, public school in America continent (Harvard University is the oldest university in this continent).

"The first free public school in America was the Syms-Eaton Academy (1634) in Hampton, Virginia, while the first tax-supported public school in America was in Dedham, Massachusetts."
Public school (government funded)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_school_(government_funded)


(2) Generally speaking, primary and secondary education were funded by property tax.

(a) As far back as 1975, reform was underway to fund poor school districts. See

Robert Reinhold, States Shift From Property Tax in Bid to Equalize School Funds. New York Times, Feb. 5, 1975 (paid content)
http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0B16F63A59157493C7A91789D85F418785F9

(b) An update on student spending:

(i) Sewell Chan, he Highest Per-Pupil Spending in the U.S. New York Times, May 24, 2007.
http://empirezone.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/05/24/the-highest-per-pupil-spending-in-the-us/?scp=7&sq=utah%20%22new%20york%22%20chan%20school%20funding&st=cse

(ii) Education in the United States
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_United_States
(Section 6.2: Funding)

(c) An earthquake occurred:

(i) New Hampshire Supreme Court
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Hampshire_Supreme_Court

Please consult Section 6.2 Educational Funding. In particular, read the first several paragraphs of the 1997 decision by New Hampshire Supreme Court:

Claremont School Dist. v. Governor, 142 N.H. 462 (1997) (Claremont II)


(ii) Carey Goldburg, Statehouse Journal; In the 'Live Free or Die' State, An Unpalatable Tax Decision. Nw York Times, June 29, 1998.
http://www.nytimes.com/1998/06/29/us/statehouse-journal-in-the-live-free-or-die-state-an-unpalatable-tax-decision.html?scp=1&sq=%22new%20hampshire%22%20live%20free%20sweat%20unconstitutional&st=cse

(iii) National News Briefs; New Hampshire Approves Finance Plan. New York Times, Apr. 30, 1999.
http://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/30/us/national-news-briefs-new-hampshire-approves-finance-plan.html?scp=7&sq=%22new%20hampshire%22%20school%20funding%20unconstitutional&st=cse
(State legislature passed state-wide property tax to fund poor school districts)

(iv) But federal law No Child Left Behind Act (a proud accomplishment of Pres. George W. Bush) has increased federal funding, a little.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Child_Left_Behind_Act

(B) As for our beloved President George W. Bush, he might be born with a silver spoon in his mouth. However, his family was modest. Read his biography,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_w_bush

and you will find he attended public schools (in Midland and later The Kinkaid School in Houston).

before he went to a famous (private) boarding school Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. He was not a good student and he openly acknowledged it.


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choi

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(1) Trivia

(a) Boston Public Schools "BPS is the oldest public school system in America, founded in 1647. It is also the home of the nation's first public school, Boston Latin School, founded in 1635. The Mather School opened in 1639 as the nation's first public elementary school, and English High School, the second public high school in the country, opened in 1821."
Boston Public Schools
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Public_Schools
(footnotes omitted)

(b) First settled by Pilgrims in 1635, the Town of Dedham, Massachusetts is a suburb of city of Boston.

"On January 1, 1644, by unanimous vote, Dedham authorized the first U.S. taxpayer-funded public school; "the seed of American education."
History of Dedham, Massachusetts, 1635–1792
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Dedham,_Massachusetts,_1635–1792

(2) Off hand, I cannot find the source of funding for Boston Public Schools, which is a school district.

(a) However, the state as a whole reports:

"Local governments provided the largest share of revenue for public elementary and secondary education in Massachusetts for FY 2006 – 50.7 percent, as show in Figure 3. State government provided 44 percent of such revenue, while the federal government supplied just 5.3 percent."
Education Financing in Massachusetts and the 50 States, Fiscal Year 2006. MassBudget (Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center), July 1, 2009.
http://www.massbudget.org/documentsearch/findDocument?doc_id=680

Note: "Figure 3" is in fact Appendix E, in page 2 of the link.

(b) Massachusetts lottery:

(i) Massachusetts established lottery in 1971.

"Fiscal Year 2006 was a milestone for the Lottery, as it marked the third consecutive year of record-breaking figures with $4.52 billion in sales and $951.2 million returned to the Commonwealth for cities and towns."
Information Packet 1971 - 2008. Massachusetts State Lottery Commission, 2009.
http://www.masslottery.com/StudentGuide/studentpack.htm

The state law does does specify how local governments spend the lottery money. See
Massachusetts State Lottery - Frequently Asked Questions. Massachusetts State Lottery Commission, Department of Treasurer, undated.
(Q1: What happens to the revenue which the Lottery generates from sales?
Q2: Who decides how much each city/town receives?)

(c) "One of the chief ways ARRA [for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which inject federal stimulus] supports these goals is by providing close to $90 billion in funding for education. * * * MassBudget estimates that Massachusetts and its residents will benefit from close to $1.8 billion in ARRA education funds."
Facts At a Glance: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act – Education. MassBudget, Oct. 26, 2009.
http://www.massbudget.org/documentsearch/findDocument?doc_id=700

My comment: Each year, the U.S. Census Bureau releases education spending data on all 50 states. That is another source for data mining.

【 在 choi 的大作中提到: 】
: I happen to have lived in Boston/Cambridge for two decades. The neighboring state, New Hamshire, has been in the forefront of school funding reform.
: (A) From the very beginning, Americans (of course, before the Revolution in 1776, all Americans were B5itish citizens) emphasized local control--and therefore funding--of education.
: (以下引言省略...)

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choi

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发信人: choi (choi), 信区: USANews
标  题: Re: 美国的初等教育经费是这样的么？ (转载)
发信站: BBS 未名空间站 (Wed Dec 16 20:05:56 2009, 美东)

(1) To clarify: New Hampshire ruled in 1997 that the school funding in that
state was unconstitutional. The decision was based on state constitution,
not federal constitution.

(2) corrections:

In my first posting, I wrote "Puritans came to Massachusetts in 1620." Then
in the second posting under this series, I wrote, "First settled by Pilgrims
in 1635, the Town of Dedham, Massachusetts is
a suburb of city of Boston."

The history is that
(a) It was Pilgrims who came in 1620 and later set up Plymouth Colony.
(b) It was Puritans who came separately and founded in 1630 what is Boston
and cambridge, as well as in 1635 what is Dedham. All were part of
Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Pilgrims and Puritans are distinct.

Both colonies were located in the present day Massachusetts and merged in
1691.

So, for people in Boston to establish public high school in 1635, those in
Cambridge to found Harvard University in 1636, and those in Dedham to
authorize a taxpayer-funded public school in 1643--when survival was
uncertain at times--they were extraordinary moves.

However, the founding fathers were full of sense of purpose. The third
governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony. Mr. John Winthrop, gave a sermon in
1630 titled "A Model of Christian Charity" which encouraged Bostonians to be
an example for the world. See

City upon a Hill
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_upon_a_Hill

【 在 choi 的大作中提到: 】
: (1) Trivia
: (a) Boston Public Schools "BPS is the oldest public school system in America, founded in 1647. It is also the home of the nation's first public school, Boston Latin School, founded in 1635. The Mather School opened in 1639 as the nation's first public elementary school, and English High School, the
: (以下引言省略...)

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choi

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(1) When Puritans in 1630 settled on what is now Boston,* it was indeed hills. In the next two centuries, the hills were leveled to fill Boston bank of Charles River and Atlantic Ocean, so as to expand the land size. See two illustrations, both in th eupper right corner of their respective web pages:
(a) Beacon Hill, Boston
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beacon_Hill,_Boston
(b) Shawmut Peninsula
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shawmut_Peninsula

(2) That is why Governor John Winthrop refers to Boston as City upon a Hill, although the city IS quite flat.

Footnote *: Puritans called the place Trimountaine, but later renamed it after Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The latter "is said to be a contraction of St Botolph's town or of St Botolph's stone. However, fewer people now believe the story, still current, that a settlement in Boston dates from AD 654, when a Saxon monk, named Botolph, established a monastery" there.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston,_Lincolnshire

Boston, Massachusetts still has "St. Botolph Street" in the old town.





【 在 choi 的大作中提到: 】
: 发信人: choi (choi), 信区: USANews
: 标  题: Re: 美国的初等教育经费是这样的么？ (转载)
: 发信站: BBS 未名空间站 (Wed Dec 16 20:05:56 2009, 美东)
: (1) To clarify: New Hampshire ruled in 1997 that the school funding in that
: (以下引言省略...)

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