School Budget Development

By Deborah "Debbie" Rutkowski-Hines

A "bottom up" approach needs to be the way we address a school budget. The first consideration in funding allotment should be providing adequate finances to fully implement all board adopted curriculum. The second consideration should be providing fully trained personnel.

There are many ways to develop a budget. When we develop our home budgets, we determine what the most important items are, we fully fund those items, and we then see what is left for other things. If students were truly first, their needs would be the first thing budgeted, and the rest would follow.

One could make the argument that everything to do with a school has to do with students. In principle that is true, but in fact, I would disagree. What is the purpose of education? Most people would say the answer is simple. It is the education of children. I maintain that "children first" is far more simple than it's made out to be.

The actual education of a child involves several things. A proper room, adequate supplies, and a qualified instructor. Though we have come to expect a lot from our schools, if a child has a room, supplies, and a qualified instructor, that child will learn if there is no lawn, and if there is no playground equipment. Of course, we do want to provide those things as well, but the critical elements for a good education all occur in the classroom. If we have a student centered budget, the top three items are the items that should be funded first. They are not. You will not find many teachers who will tell you that supplies are adequate in their classrooms. Yet these things are not the "top dollar" items!

I maintain that if we tout "students first" we need to back that up with action!

QUALIFICATIONS- M.A. Curriculum and Instruction, teacher, former president Pi Lambda Theta Educational Honors Society, V.P. Muroc Education Association, former mentor teacher, former grade level chair, grade level representative in standards development for Language Arts, Science, and Math, V.P. Rancho Vista Homeowners Association.