Public School Funding Task Force

Summary of January 22 Meeting

The January Task Force meeting, led by Jim Guthrie, began by focusing on a statistical profile of the Florida education system. Guthrie, a nationally recognized expert on education finance reform, reviewed the State's K-12 education system compared with national averages.

Students in Florida score slightly below the national average on the ACT and SAT tests. In the fourth and eighth grades, Florida students, according to NAEP reading tests, are significantly lower than the national average with regard to percentage of students at or above reading proficiency.

Professor Guthrie provided the Task Force with Florida's expenditure for several categories of student. Expenditures ranged from $4,024 for regular students to a high of $4,714 for vocational students. In the presentation, it was noted that the State's new Constitution specifies that there is to be "{a}dequate provision ..by law for a uniform, efficient, safe, secure, and high quality system of free public schools that allows students to obtain a high quality education and for the establishment, maintenance, and operation of institutions of higher learning and other public education programs that the needs of the people may require."

This information sparked a general discussion of the financial benefits of education and the economic outlook for the State. Where are jobs at present, what jobs will be in high demand in the future, and how do we educate students for the future job markets?

The Task Force questioned whether an educated work force attracted high skill jobs or is it the other way round? The Task Force then turned to potential measures of effectiveness. How do you know whether you are providing the best education for future needs? What are the measures? Is it graduation rate, universal reading by third grade, college attendance, students performance against state or national standards, teacher effectiveness, or fiscal efficiency? In summary how can the State improve education for its students?

Professor Guthrie pointed out that studies of other states suggest: that the highest value added in education is engendered by lower pupil-teacher ratios in lower grades, higher percentages of teachers reporting sufficient resources for teaching, more children in preschool programs, and lower teacher turnover.

The least effective incentives were found to be higher teacher salaries, teachers with advanced degrees, and in-class teacher aids.