Micaela Dawson

Georgetown’s Dr. Marguerite Roza on K-12 School Finance, Spending, & Results

/in , , , /by Micaela Dawson
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on
LinkedIn
+

This week on “The Learning Curve,” Gerard and Cara talk with Dr. Marguerite Roza, Research Professor and Director of the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University. Professor Roza describes the three distinct phases of how American K-12 education has been funded over the last 40 years, and implications for equity and overall student achievement. She offers perspectives on the productivity of America’s $800 billion annual spending on K-12 education, with 90 percent funded by state and local governments. Professor Roza shares thoughts on the strengths and weaknesses of federal K-12 spending and policymaking, given that NAEP scores and achievement gaps remain largely unchanged after Race to the Top and ESSA. With only about half of total K-12 spending allocated to student instruction, she shares concerns about the growth of bureaucracies and non-instructional staffing at all levels – especially in larger urban school districts, where per pupil spending surpasses $20,000, yet achievement gaps and low graduation rates persist. Lastly, they explore the role of philanthropy in K-12 education’s ongoing struggles to deliver better results for schoolchildren, and criticisms by Diane Ravitch and the teacher unions.

Stories of the Week: Harvard Professor Cornel West laments Howard University’s decision to dismantle its Classics Department, noting the influence of ancient thinkers on Frederick Douglass and the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Private schools have remained open for most of the past year while their public counterparts have stayed closed – is that a sign of the imbalance in power between parents and teachers unions?

Guest:

Dr. Marguerite Roza is Research Professor at Georgetown University and Director of the Edunomics Lab, a research center exploring and modeling complex education finance decisions to inform policy and practice. She leads the McCourt School of Public Policy’s Certificate in Education Finance, which equips participants with practical skills in strategic fiscal management, policy analysis, and leadership. Dr. Roza’s research traces the effects of fiscal policies at the federal, state, and district levels for their implications on resources at school and classroom levels. Her calculations of dollar implications and cost equivalent tradeoffs have prompted changes in education finance policy at all levels of the education system. She served as a Senior Economic Advisor to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy teaching thermodynamics at the Naval Nuclear Power School. Roza is author of the highly regarded education finance book, Educational Economics: Where Do School Funds Go? She earned a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Washington and a B.S. from Duke University, and studied at the London School of Economics and the University of Amsterdam.

The next episode will air on Wednesday, May 5th, 2021 at 12 pm ET with guest, Jonathan Butcher, the Will Skillman Fellow in Education at The Heritage Foundation.

Tweet of the Week:

News Links:

Cornel West/WaPo: Howard University’s removal of classics is a spiritual catastrophe

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/04/19/cornel-west-howard-classics/

Colleen Hroncich: School Closures Highlight The Need For Parental Choice

https://www.iwf.org/2021/04/22/school-closures-highlight-the-need-for-parental-choice/

Get new episodes of The Learning Curve in your inbox!

Breaking Down Encampments: Court Finds no Right to Sleep Outdoors

Joe Selvaggi speaks with Manhattan Institute Senior Fellow Dr. Stephen Eide about the Grants Pass v. Johnson Supreme Court decision and its impact on homeless encampments in Boston and across the country.

Harlow Giles Unger on Patrick Henry & American Liberty

 Mr. Unger delves into the life of Patrick Henry as the country celebrates the Fourth of July. He explores Henry's early life, his rise as a lawyer and political figure, and his fiery opposition to British policies. Mr. Unger highlights Henry's famous "Give me liberty, or give me death!" speech and his influential role as governor of Virginia, underscoring his enduring legacy in helping forge American independence. In closing, he reads a passage from his book, Lion of Liberty: Patrick Henry and the Call to a New Nation. 

The Housing Crisis has a Hand in Massachusetts Out-migration Trends

Recently published IRS data shows that net out-migration from…

Underfunding Overdose Alternatives: Price Controls Hinder Search for Non-Addictive Opioids

Joe Selvaggi talks with Pioneer Institute's Director of Healthcare Initiatives, Dr. Bill Smith, about the challenges posed by new regulations and price controls for developing alternatives to addictive opioids.

Latest IRS Migration Data Show Exodus from Massachusetts Continues

Massachusetts shed more than double the amount of adjusted gross income (AGI) in 2022 than any year prior to 2020, making it fifth among states in net AGI out-migration behind only California, New York, Illinois and New Jersey, according to data released Thursday by the Internal Revenue Service. 

Prof. Joel Richard Paul on Daniel Webster, U.S. Senate, & “Liberty and Union”

Prof. Joel Richard Paul discusses the statesman Daniel Webster, highlighting his reputation as the "conscience of New England" and one of America's greatest orators. Prof. Paul shares that Webster, despite a modest upbringing, became a leading attorney whose arguments in landmark U.S. Supreme Court cases shaped constitutional law. 

What makes these five so-called “W” towns so appealing?

Learn about what makes these five Massachusetts "W" towns so desirable to live in, but also the costs associated with them.

Unlocking Affordable Housing: Sources and Solutions for Cost Crisis

Joe Selvaggi talks with Pioneer Institute Housing Fellow Andrew Mikula about his research on the causes and cures for our region's highest-in-the-nation housing costs. 

Part II: Push and Pull Factors for Massachusetts Businesses

High UI tax rates make it expensive for businesses to operate in Massachusetts. Learn what affects a company's decision to operate in Massachusetts.

New Online Tool Tracks MA Hospital Revenue from Commercial Sources

A new online tool from Pioneer Institute shows a gradual increase in non-commercial (public payer) revenue at Massachusetts hospitals and also reveals a strong relationship between the hospitals with the highest commercial revenue and those with the highest relative prices.

Mayor Wu’s Office to Residential Conversion Pilot Program Prioritizes Downtown Revitalization over Housing Production, Fiscal Responsibility

In July 2023, in response to a soft post-COVID office market…