A Glimpse inside How Much Does a Great School Cost? School Economies and School Values

“Don't tell me what you value, show me your budget, and I'll tell you what you value.” ~Joe Biden

Reset (Abridged Introduction)

If you are serious about improvement in education – hit the “reset” button. Think about what might be affordable outside the realm of how schools spend money today. This book is about looking beyond the main networks of education; it reveals examples of great practices, how much they can cost, and how we can take the remote and move towards more innovative channels in education. 

We need to break away from the fixed view that teaching and learning can only happen in a ‘red schoolhouse’. As this read will expose, it takes hard work to implement new ways of doing school; there are simply no short cuts to building and re-designing great learning institutions. 

When the picture on our computer or television screens is not clear, we scramble to push as many buttons as we can to remedy the problem; regrettably, however, when schooling is fuzzy, we rarely change the channel. In a way, the system is caught up in the cycle of “play”; that keeps on doing. what’s always been done. 

Often, the building of a new school is trumpeted as a transforming opportunity, but sadly, these initiatives stop short of innovation. New schools may be larger with renovated lounges, lunchrooms and lockers, but many fall short of inspiring learning. After an investment of millions of dollars, these schools tend to be no more than cleaner, freshly painted mirrors of existing schools, schools that still look ‘red’. 

Rather than view schooling from an outside-in perspective, this book reveals the complexities of addressing the fiscal realities of education from the inside out…Rarely do educators and other taxpayers have time to pay attention to, read about, and act on educational economic challenges and possibilities. This resource aims to take the reader on a journey outside the main networks, into the less predictable arenas of the ‘Netflicks’ in education. We need to explore new sources to move our compass beyond the limits of schools today. It’s time for schools to invest in their off-road tires, and choose new paths that can prepare our students for anything. If we value a different educational outcome for more students, then we need to push for more change. 

Education does not have to be on auto-pilot; we can learn not only how to navigate the remote, but we can re-design it, so we can efficiently improve schools in cost-effective ways. What has emerged from examining educational and business literature is the notion that school values and finances are inheritably linked. Budgets remotely control our schools. Without shifting the budget, we cannot change the educational channel. 

Ben Franklin’s quote: “Drive my business or it will drive thee” is a compelling insight. Is it possible that education could be driving itself, when it continues to perpetuate programs based on the replicated budgets, year after year? This book should be viewed as more than a collection of ideas or a slice in time of a school pricing catalogue. While the detailing of how much things cost in schools is necessary when comparing conventional school expenses with funding needed to operate innovative schools, the message that budgets reflect values is central to this discussion. If a school values innovation, then it will need to risk changing how funds are allocated. If schools are expected to embrace change, decision-makers must also be prepared to shift the budget allocation across the board, to reflect new emerging values.  

This book addresses the fiscal factor in promoting the design, implementation, and sustainability of schools that go beyond ‘red’. It also introduces the idea of New School, one designed with a new budget framework in mind, one that functions to permit and promote innovation in teaching and learning…

Rather than provide a summary at the end of each chapter, readers are invited to collaborate with other readers by grappling with ideas. Such challenges help the reader to re-think, through the lens of a task or question, the potential significance or links to their own experience in education. Such tasks may prove fruitful for professional learning conversations in schools or within undergraduate or graduate course work in education.  

This book shares many stories of schooling that are real and worthy of change; at the same time, it highlights glimpses of bold ideas for imagining teaching and learning in a new light. In Linus Pauling’s words: “The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas”. This book does not hold back on concrete examples of greatness; if the reader is hungry for fresh ideas, you will be offered ample servings. Be ready for the detailing, but when you reach the threshold of technical examples, adjust your binoculars and simply move on to the next focus of what can be considered greatness in schools. Think about the calls for change, large and small, and what investment of time and money that such improvements might incur. 

Finally, pay attention to the idea that values are entrenched, not only in the budget numbers, but in the willingness of decision-makers and implementers to be open to change. Perhaps, talking about a New School, such as the one featured in this book, can lead to the building of more ‘new’ schools, where greatness does not have to be an outlier anymore. 

This book was written for all stakeholders who want to rally around school improvement. The pubic chooses school Trustees to be responsible for great schools. School leaders want to inspire students, staff, and families to form great schools. Teachers want to be part of great schools. Non-instructional staff want to contribute to great schools. Parents want to send their children to great schools. University researchers want to inform and be informed by great schools. Students want to have a say in shaping great schools. This text invites all stakeholders to not only celebrate ideas of greatness in schools, but come to understand that innovative and engaging practices can be affordable. These ideas and ‘grappling’ questions can build a rich context for talk about how, and at what cost, we can contribute to building more great schools.

Biden’s message that our budgets reflect our values, should give some serious pause for thought. It’s time to push the reset button!