Financial Accountability for Schools

Air Date:02/16/2012

The state House Appropriations Committee wants to create a financial accountability system for public schools. Senator Deb Peters says the state already collects the data needed to study a school's financial performance. She says it's important to rate districts so that officials at schools that aren't doing well financially can learn and copy ideas from schools that are doing well.
 
"We don't have unlimited resources," Peters says. "We've made the tough decisions last year to cut budgets. We know we don't have unlimited resources. We also know next year the federal government is going to be seeing, and we could see some pretty dramatic cuts from the federal government when it comes to when they start balancing their budget, and education is going to be a part of that list. So with that I think we need to start working on trying to figure out how efficient we truly are and where the best bang for our buck is."
 
The financial component is a part of Senate Bill 25, which also creates an academic accountability system to replace No Child Left Behind. Some who testified were in favor of academic accountability but were opposed to the financial piece. They say it takes away local control. The measure passed by a vote of six to three. 

By Jenifer Jones

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