School Finance, Budgets & Resource Allocation FAQ
What school leaders need to understand about budgets, spending decisions, and financial accountability.
Substitute Teacher Pay & Shortages
Why can't schools find enough substitute teachers?
Because they don't pay enough. Sub pay in some districts is as low as $65 a day -- less than fast food. Districts that pay $250-$300 a day don't have a sub shortage. We don't have a sub shortage; we have a sub pay shortage.
Watch the video -->What should districts do about the substitute teacher shortage?
Raise pay, then raise it again. If you raised sub pay and still can't find subs, you didn't raise it enough. After that, address student behavior -- nobody will sub at any price if kids are out of control and there are no consequences. These are money problems disguised as staffing problems.
Watch the video -->Should teachers have to cover classes when there's no sub?
No, and if they do, it should be optional and paid. Pulling teachers from their prep periods to cover classes creates resentment and burns people out. If this is happening daily in your school, people will quit. The fix is paying subs enough to show up -- not stealing teachers' planning time.
Watch the video -->Teacher Pay & Compensation
Are cost-of-living adjustments enough to retain teachers?
Not even close. Prices on everything from housing to groceries have outpaced the small COLAs districts typically negotiate. When a classroom aide can make more at Chick-fil-A, something is fundamentally broken. We need real raises across the board -- teachers, aides, custodians, lunchroom staff -- not token percentage bumps.
Watch the video -->Should teachers get paid extra for work beyond their contract?
Yes, always. Coaching, tutoring, after-school clubs, covering classes -- any work beyond contracted duties should come with additional compensation. The expectation of free labor is unprofessional. No other industry expects people to work significant extra hours for nothing.
Watch the video -->Does merit pay work for teachers?
No, and it never will. The Gates Foundation spent enormous money on the Measures of Effective Teaching Project trying to isolate teacher performance, and it utterly failed. Teacher scores bounced around randomly year to year because student outcomes depend mostly on out-of-school factors. Merit pay also destroys collaboration and creates perverse incentives to fight for the easiest students.
Watch the video -->Why has merit pay failed despite decades of attempts?
Because you can't fairly measure individual teacher impact without random assignment of students, and we don't do that. Any test score differences between teachers are almost certainly differences in who their students are. Merit pay pits educators against each other to teach the easiest kids instead of working as a team to serve all students.
Watch the video -->School Vouchers & Privatization
Won't vouchers make private schools more affordable?
No -- they'll make private schools more expensive. If a private school charges $15,000 and families suddenly get a $15,000 voucher, the school will raise tuition to $30,000. They'd be foolish not to. Private schools don't want less money and more students. Vouchers are free money for schools that are already serving the families who can pay.
Watch the video -->Are vouchers a good use of public money?
No. Vouchers are a reverse Robin Hood scheme -- taking money from public schools that serve all kids and handing it to private schools that serve the kids they choose. Most voucher money goes to families already paying private school tuition. Public resources should fund public schools.
Watch the video -->Why do voucher schools appear to outperform public schools?
Because they cherry-pick their students. Private schools accept the students who are inexpensive to educate and decline those with costly needs -- special education, behavioral support, medical needs. When you compare a hand-selected student body to a school that must serve everyone, the comparison is meaningless.
Watch the video -->Can school choice put failing public schools out of business?
It has never happened, and it won't. The private school doesn't want all of a failing school's students -- only the easy ones. Public schools have a legal obligation to educate every student, including those with disabilities, behavioral challenges, and high needs. Until a private school takes all students and gets better results, this argument is empty.
Watch the video -->Does school choice improve student outcomes?
No. Research consistently shows that choice programs don't raise overall achievement -- they just sort students by privilege. Families with resources, information, and transportation navigate choice systems. Everyone else gets left behind in schools with fewer resources. We end up rewarding schools for better marketing, not better teaching.
Watch the video -->Special Education Funding
Why do schools keep breaking special education laws?
Because special education is chronically underfunded. Idaho's funding formula assumes only 5.5-6% of students have disabilities when the actual number is at least 12%. Districts don't have the resources, training, or programs to meet students' legal rights to a free and appropriate public education. The fix is straightforward: update the funding formulas and spend the money.
Watch the video -->Are 1:1 aides a good use of special education dollars?
Often not. Districts hand out one-on-one aides to cover up the lack of proper specialized programs. A well-staffed self-contained classroom with one teacher, two aides, and six students is actually cheaper and more effective than giving every kid their own aide in a general education setting. We need to build the programs students actually need.
Watch the video -->Why do some students cost so much more to educate?
Because their needs demand it -- and that's the whole point of public education. Students with IEPs, medical needs, or behavioral challenges require smaller classes, specialized staff, and targeted programs. Private schools know this, which is why they don't accept these students. Public schools absorb the full cost, and their per-pupil averages reflect it.
Watch the video -->Budgets & Resource Allocation
Is central office administrative bloat a real problem?
Yes. Central office administrators have increased 88% over the last two decades while the teacher-to-student ratio hasn't budged. Too many of those positions generate mandates, data requests, and compliance demands that create more work for teachers without improving student outcomes. Those dollars would do more good in classrooms.
Watch the video -->Should schools invest more in counselors?
Absolutely. A good school counselor is worth their weight in gold -- they prevent conflicts from escalating, support students in crisis, and handle work nobody else in the building can do. Yet counselor positions are among the first to get cut when budgets tighten. That's penny-wise and pound-foolish.
Watch the video -->Is spending on high school athletics a good investment?
It depends on who benefits. High school athletics has been captured by high-income families who invest heavily in travel teams, private coaching, and elite development. If the dollar you're spending on athletics isn't reaching low-income students, it's amplifying privilege rather than creating opportunity. Given the choice, put the money into academics.
Watch the video -->Should schools pay parents to improve attendance?
I have mixed feelings. Paying parents $25 a week to get kids to school might boost numbers short-term, but extrinsic motivation tends to erode intrinsic motivation. When the incentive ends, kids may stop showing up. We need to address the root causes of chronic absenteeism, not paper over them with cash.
Watch the video -->Advocacy & Funding Strategy
When is the best time to ask for more school funding?
Three weeks after school gets out for summer. That's when parents are feeling the full weight of what schools provide -- supervision, meals, structure, social development. Put your ballot measures and funding campaigns in front of voters when they miss schools the most, not during the school year when everything is humming along.
Watch the video -->What does real teacher appreciation look like?
It starts at the ballot box. Candy bars, puns, and office supplies are not appreciation -- they're insults. A Payday bar is not a substitute for a pay raise. If you want to appreciate teachers, vote for school funding measures and pro-education candidates. Policy changes beat gift baskets every single time.
Watch the video -->Could a bounty program help solve the literacy crisis?
It might actually work. We know how to teach every kid to read -- the problem is scaling one-on-one tutoring where it's needed most. If you could earn $20,000 for helping a struggling older student become a fluent reader, people would line up to do the work. The bounty should increase with the student's age because the stakes get higher. We're going to pay for illiteracy one way or another -- better to pay for the solution.
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