Panelists on this episode argue that inadequate and inequitable funding of our public schools pose a dire threat to American democracy. That’s because students in under-resourced schools, those who tend to be poor and people of color, are less able to participate in the democratic process. The full panel includes: Derek Black, Professor of Law, University of South Carolina School of Law; Preston Green, Professor of Educational Leadership and Law, University of Connecticut; Joshua Starr, Chief Executive Officer, PDK International; and Sanaa Kahloon, student, Harvard University.
“The problem that we may have is that, even if we spend the money wisely and do things that need to be done, you may not get the turnaround in two or three years,” says Preston Green, a professor of educational leadership in the Neag School of Education. “What I’m calling for is more patience.”
Casey Cobb, a professor of education policy at UConn’s Neag School of Education, said that rather than moving money around, the preferable thing would be to increase funding for all the schools — choice schools and district schools alike.
“It’s redistributing money from municipalities that were receiving it under the formula,” Casey Cobb says. “And that might be the right thing to do, ultimately. It’s just that, I think, politically, it tends not to be too popular to pull money away, because of course, everybody wants to receive it.”
The Day (Neag School’s Preston Green weighs in on the recent Connecticut school funding decision)
