VERSION: July 13, 17
Management of Financial Resources 2016
Maureen W. McClure
EdD Program/School of Education
University of Pittsburgh
ADMPS 3101-1060: CRN: 29103
Posvar Hall 4321
Spring 2016
Contact information
Maureen W. McClure
Office:
Phone:
Email:
Office Hours:
Associate Professor
5711 Posvar Hall
412.648.7114
[email protected]
To be determined in consultation with course students and by
appointment online (Google Hangout or Skype) or F2F
The course will meet in Oakland four times, on the first Saturdays of the month.
January 9
February 6
March 5
April 2
AND ONLINE
INTRODUCTION
The course uses CourseWeb/Blackboard for its online portions. This includes syllabus
updates, assignments, readings (both required and recommended), group work, discussions,
etc.
The course syllabus will remain in draft form with assurances that there is a “no reneging
clause.” Adjustments instead will be made to support class customization, as each class
brings different expertise experiences to the table. Students are also encouraged to
contribute links and articles they come across in their own reading and in the media.
Education finance is almost always in the news. Students will develop an expertise in an
area that they can share with the rest of the class and hopefully after.
This year the class will also help design a template and then generate a State of the District
report for a local school board and its community. Why? It is a way of showing how a
district’s strategic plans are being implemented within reasonable budget constraints.
Right now most of these reports, where they exist, are pretty awful. Why? The problem is
that so much attention has been paid to the problems of student achievement that relatively
little attention has been paid to the local costs of attainment. Revenue generation problems,
however, are an increasing concern in aging communities with currently declining
enrollments. These districts, both rich and poor, face increasing difficulties paying for
educational services, salary growth and benefits. You can see this in the increased instability
of state and federal funding. Also, issues such as aging communities with nontaxable
incomes, public pensions, etc., are often reported by advocates of one position or another.
VERSION: July 13, 17
This instability is also in part due to the changing times, as districts shift from a primary
focus on policy compliance, to one of economic competitiveness with other districts and
charter schools. Currently there are few good templates to help local districts customize
their services in order to be more attractive to potential new residents.
MAKING IT HAPPEN
One hallmark of this course is “Don’t believe a word I say…go out and find out for
yourself.” So Google (“State of the District” report) to see for yourself what’s out
there. And what’s not. Does your district issues an annual State of the District
report? Does it show the costs of district progress by integrating strategic planning
and budgeting?
One of the more difficult tasks administrators today face is how to invest resources both
fairly and effectively. Why? Because fairness and effectiveness are not only different, they
can also be contradictory. Can you think of any examples in your own district?
One reason why fairness and effectiveness may not take the same journey is because
different stakeholders don’t share interpretations of the same issues. Put simply, different
policy issues may mean different things to different people. Resource issues in particular
can be contentious when different groups are not only righteous about their own value but
they are also in competition with other righteous groups for the same resources. For
example, when the “baby boom” generation was either in school or later when they were
the parents of children in school, education had strong lobbies at the state level. Now as
they age, have less money and need other services, lobbying shifts toward tax relief and
sector competition becomes more visible.
In addition to the problems of multiple interpretations by different stakeholders, there is
the additional problem of who owns access to tax dollars? Teachers may believe that it is
fair that they have earned raises in both their salaries and their benefits. That might be true.
At the same time, it may also be true that aging taxpayers claim if taxes are raised, they
might not be able to stay in their homes. And that might also be true. Finally, it may also be
true the resources many children need may not be the resources that can be provided by
teachers and the education sector (health, safety, etc.). And that also might be true. So how
can we be fair to teachers, taxpayers and children, all at the same time?
Making good things happen in complicated contexts is something that you have already
been doing for a long time. Now the stakes start going up. This course gives you tools so
you can improve on what you already have been doing as successful administrators.
LANGUAGE IS FOUNDATIONAL TO FINANCE: MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES
What does language have to do with finance? Well, we can’t do finance without it. We need
to frame the ways we think and act. In more technical terms, the brain uses metaphors to
create ways of knowing (frames or schema or paradigms, the terms vary by disciplines) in
order to shape our ideas about things. We use these ways of knowing to create narratives
around critical issues. These narratives are made up of assumptions, attributions,
expectations, biases, etc. Different ways of knowing can have profoundly different
definitions and consequences. And these differences can be a major source of
administrative miscommunication.
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For example, here are three different metaphorical ways of thinking about the same critical
issue: taxes. All three might be represented on the same school board. Or one person may
try to balance two or all three of them. This can create dilemmas for adminstrators. First, for
some taxes are theft from the makers to give to the takers. Big governments with no regard
for their citizens grow fat by forcing people to pay for their lavish and undeserved salaries
and benefits. This includes “government schools.” Raising taxes, therefore, should be
resisted at all costs.
Second, paying taxes is the price of freedom in a democracy. It is a personal duty everyone
needs to share in order to ensure national security and development. Taxes are necessary
both for safety and economic stability. These revenues should support our national
interests, our troops and free markets.
Third, taxes are the investments we make together as neighbors and nations in the
sustainability of our next generations and our planet. In addition to a national security
interest, a generational interest also obligates us to invest in the education and health of all
of our citizens. A democratic human rights interest also obligates us to those in the greatest
needs beyond our borders. Clearly these points of view can be irreconcilable.
Complicating even this dilemma are multiple levels of governments and wide ranges in
income. This can lead to large inequalities in school spending, exacerbated by district
boundaries. In the past many people lived in cities, so local control was more inclusive
because wealthy and poor people often lived within blocks of each other, and saw each
other regularly. Today wealth and poverty are concentrated in urban and suburban housing
enclaves at some distance from each other. Rich and poor children can grow up with little
contact with each other. Today, local control can now exacerbate the differences in school
spending.
As US school systems are highly decentralized, it is predictable, ipso facto, that schools with
the greatest needs are the most likely to have the least money to meet their needs. Now
substantial variances in wealth can be both in close proximity and separated by zoning. In
the past, this inequality was seen by some as problematic, the consequences of economic
apartheid created by wealthy people to preserve their privilege. The best way to solve the
problem was to “level up” poorer districts using a “lighthouse” strategy.
Today, the language has shifted toward referring to the poor’s schools either as the
unfortunate collateral damage generated by freedom of choice, or as the result of poor
teaching and standards lacking in rigor or relevance. Here the best way to solve the problem
is to create greater free market choices for poor parents, using charter schools and
vouchers. This market approach frees parents to leave poor schools with poor teachers.
How are you going to manage all of these conflicting narratives?
Me? I have my own opinions, will state them, and have no need for you to agree with them.
What I need to hear is your own thoughtful and responsible voice. As a leader you will need
to articulate your positions in these matters because they serve as frames for your
“organizational vision.” And you will need to communicate with those who disagree.
Especially about taxes and budgets.
So what are you going to do about it? And how can this course help?
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This course is designed for those seeking the knowledge and skills needed for institutional
(and personal career) sustainability. It covers those aspects of fiscal responsibility required
for district institutional leadership. Focusing on linking institutional limits and instructional
leadership, it links problems of district sustainability with some of the other most important
and complex areas of leadership: budgeting, strategic planning and collective bargaining.
These are changing rapidly over time as children change. Today’s children are different
from their parents’ generation. Many have different needs.
The course pays special attention to education leaders’ needs to coordinate three major
district policies: a) budgeting and financial management, b) competitive strategic planning
and implementation, and c) personnel support and collective bargaining. And all of these
within a highly complex world of growing mandates and compliance, instructional and
institutional reformers, and competitors.
Institutional leaders bear the greatest responsibility for a school district’s financial
sustainability. In today’s complex worlds of school districts, this can be easily lost behind
important concerns for high stakes testing, instructional strategies, curriculum choices,
student activities and legal mandates. Until the troubles start. Like how to pay for pensions.
Or how to manage attrition created by declining enrollments.
MULTIPLE FORMS OF CAPITAL
This course focuses on the problems of institutional sustainability and the knowledge and
skills needed to make it happen. This course takes a complex view of leadership that
acknowledges the different kinds of capital central to institutional sustainability. First, of
course, is financial capital. Money matters. It matters a lot. But it is not a district’s only
source of wealth. District leaders and institutions have at least three other sources of
capital investment: human, social and cultural.
Human capital formation is a central function of education. It refers to the knowledge and
skills needed for both student and district achievement. In the US, knowledge and skills are
at the center of instruction. The focus on basics is technical - on learning literacy and
numeracy. (Some other countries emphasize good citizenship, good character through
moral education, and/or child development).
Core learning in schools today depends on scaffolding knowledge and skills in the process of
development. District leaders acting as instructional leaders need to know how to assess
and support teachers in the classroom with multiple forms of capital. District leaders also
need to act as institutional leaders, and this means knowing how to negotiate with locally
elected school boards or boards of trustees. The tough job is not only knowing what best to
do, but also how to pay for it now and in the future, as needed.
Courage is central to the formation of social capital. As you know, the building of trusting
relationships (social capital) is at the core of leadership. Those networks of relationships
and access are important sources of both personal wealth and wealth for the school district,
even though these relationships don’t often translate directly into money. We can, however,
recognize their existence. We call it social capital, and it is an important source of wealth
for districts and their leaders. For example, close cooperation among teachers and cultural
generosity between schools and their communities can support more coherent instruction
and success for children.
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Today’s realities are also culturally complex. Cultural capital can come in many forms. For
example, parental and community understandings of education as critical investments in
their families’ future may lead to a high degree of cooperation with schools, leading to the
success of children. Or in some communities parents haven’t had good experiences in
schools, and may therefore, be reluctant to cooperate with schools.
Finally, it will be difficult for you to learn all of the critical financial skills that you will need
in an increasingly resource unstable, competitive and compliance-oriented environment.
The course can only get you started on your way, so learning to learn quickly about
something you don’t know much about will be an important skill you can use. Some of you
will already have considerable experience aligning instructional performance with
institutional sustainability. Others may be comfortable with instructional leadership, but
have less experience with taxpayers, school boards and institutional sustainability.
Everyone has enough room to do well.
REQUIRED READINGS
Textbook
Crampton, F. E., Wood, R. C., Thompson, D. C. (2015). Money and Schools.
6th ed. New York: Routledge. [ISBN-13: 978-1138025066]
Strunk, W., Jr. & White, E. B. (1999). The elements of style. 4th ed. London: Longman.
[ISBN: 978-0205309023] http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?
storyId=103140512
Other materials will available online on CourseWeb.
ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING
One way of extending your learning is to compile materials that you can use as references
after the course ends. We will focus on dividing up some of the coursework so that that
together the class will help each other cover critical areas.
There are basically two products plus class participation. The first is an individual project
that allows you to share your work with each other. The second is an individual/team
project that feeds into a class project.
You may ask how will you know when you are successful? Simple. First, there are core
concepts you need to know when and how to use. Second, one good professional school
standard is work that works. Do your colleagues find your work helpful? Third, looking
forward to your career, does a district find your work useful?
The first project needs to be written for and understood by peers. The second project needs
to be written for and understood as useful by districts.
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
A Policy Briefing report (30%)
A well-written briefing report on one important special policy issue will be written for an
audience of district policymakers: administrators, board members, etc.
It will:
1. Identify and clarify a critical policy topic
2. Explain how and why it is important at this time (a problem either to be anticipated
or addressed now)
3. Propose specific next steps
a. Map what others have said about the topic
i. Compare and contrast others’ findings
ii. Identify commonalities and tensions
b. Provide evidence from lit to support your proposed next steps (you are only
responsible for the briefing paper, not carrying it out)
c. Identify negative space and consequences: Problems created by overlooking
consequential issues
4. Format
a. 8 to 10 pages plus appendices and annotated bibliography (See CourseWeb
for support)
b. Possibly build on your problem of practice if useful for others
c. Professional presentation
i. Brief
ii. Easy to read quickly
iii. Quickly grasp complex issues
iv. Pdf format for easy share

A State of the District project (30%)
In addition to the individual project there will also to be a class project. The purpose of
this project is to give students experience in acting as members of a supportive
consultation team charged not only with collecting, analyzing and presenting data, but
also in helping to design a template they can use in their own districts.
1. What’s already out there? We will need a lit review/annotated bibliography
of reports. Divide into groups by region. Organize for the following tasks
a. Find the documents
i. How to prepare State of the District documents
ii. Actual district level state-of-the district documents
b. Read them
c. Review them: Summarize key points
i. What do others choose for the basic form of the report?
(Superintendent’s report, PowerPoint, extended report with
metric, etc.)
ii. How would that fit the district?
d. Rate them for content and format
i. What metrics do the reports use? Quantitative? Qualitative?
ii. What do you notice that the report has that appears to be
new to you? Is it useful?
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VERSION: July 13, 17
e. Write annotated bibliography that provides template resources (See
CourseWeb for “how to” support)
f. Analyze findings- e.g., Are these reports limited to larger districts?
Not?
i. What would be useful for a small district?
ii. What is missing from the reports? What is not being
covered?
Currently there is tentative agreement with a local school district to work collaboratively to
create a useful state of the district report. Timelines are being negotiated to support the PA
budgeting cycle. While these reports have been generated in the past, current and growing
complex conditions have increased the need for more complex reports.
The purpose of the template design and its implementation is in part to better understand
how reforms are affecting planning and budgeting. Examples include potential for
increased instability in local revenues in districts with declining enrollments, increased
uncertainty in state funding, rapidly growing district benefits, increases in costs related to
state and federal accountability (teacher evaluations, student achievement tests, etc.) and
rapidly shifting demographics.
The course offers a list of concepts that can help form both a template and a report that
provide more nuanced information on a district’s context. This can help support
institutional leaders’ needs to make more customized local decisions.

Weekly Assignments and Class Engagement (40%)
Class engagement is the time where you can demonstrate that you have not only completed
the class assignments, but that you have also mastered the material. And when you haven’t,
then you can demonstrate you initiative and leadership of your own learning by asking for
help from me, peers, cousins, etc.
You are expected to make visible online contributions weekly. Contributions can be made to
discussions, groups, materials, etc.
This is an important part of the course because you are expected to act as leaders on a team
working toward mastery. This means not only being engaged yourself, but also encouraging
engagement in others. Your visible efforts should provide positive support for leadership so
your classmates can do well. This is not the time to play vote your neighbor off the island.
Those days are long gone, if they ever existed. The problems we face today are too
complicated for exclusively individual decision-making. And there is too much talent in the
group for it to be overlooked.
The list of concepts below provides an important overview that educational leaders should
both know and be able to use appropriately. We may not be able to thoroughly cover all the
topics listed below, because a lot depends on the knowledge and experience of the class.
The list, however, gives you will have a list of valuable management tools that are likely to
be helpful in the future.
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2164 - SLOE COURSE ALIGNMENT WITH PDE CORE STANDARDS AND
SPECIAL EDUCATION STANDARDS FOR SCHOOL LEADERS
CORE STANDARDS
 Core Standard One: the leader has knowledge and skills to think and plan
strategically, creating an organizational vision around personalized student success.
[Major concepts: Challenges, change, strategic thinking, vision and mission]


Core Standard Two: The leader is grounded in standards-based systems theory and
design and is able to transfer knowledge to his/her job as an architect of standardsbased reform in the school. (Major concepts: Standards-aligned systems, federal &
state guidelines, theory, design, architect)
Core Standard Three: The leader knows how to access and use appropriate data to
inform decision-making at all levels of the system.
[Major concepts: Technology & tools, multiple measures of data, interpretation, use
of data]
COROLLARY STANDARDS

Corollary Standard One: The leader creates a culture of teaching and learning with
an emphasis on learning. [Major concepts: Research, leadership for learning]

Corollary Standard Two: The leader manages resources for effective results. [Major
concepts: Results-based fiscal planning, human resource management]

Corollary Standard Three: The leader collaborates, communicates, engages, and
empowers others inside and outside of the organization to pursue excellence in
learning. [Major concepts: Organizational development; communication skills]

Corollary Standard Four: The leader operates in a fair and equitable manner with
personal and professional integrity. [Major concepts: Professional ethics, diverse
populations]

Corollary Standard Five: The leader advocates for children an public education in
the larger political, social, economic, legal, and cultural context [Major concepts:
Advocacy for children, function of schools in a democratic society]

Corollary Standard Six: The supports professional growth of self and others through
practice and inquiry. [Major concepts: Professional development, learning
organizations]
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JANUARY
READINGS:
Money and Schools, Chapters 1 – 3
Historical and Legal background
Taxation models
Begin State of the District Report: Develop outline/template
Choose Policy Brief topics
Build or refresh economics concepts
Required and recommended CourseWeb materials (It is recommended unless
specifically required – many materials for reference if needed)
Background materials
EVIDENCE COURSE CONTENT
ADDRESSES STANDARDS
I
WHEN
MINOR
EMPHASIS
FRAMEWORKS:
A. HISTORICAL, B. LEGAL, C. MARKET, D.
GENERATIONAL
PLANNING BUDGETING
January
Core
One
Students demonstrate their organizational
vision including fairness, access and
opportunity (equity)
January
Core
One
Students demonstrate their organizational
vision to align strategic thinking and
theories of change in instructional leadership
and human resources.
January
X
Core
Two
Students’ assignments in district-level
planning require them to align instructional
goals with longer-term cost feasibility.
January
X
II.
MAJOR
EMPHASIS
X
FEBRUARY
READINGS:
M&S: Chapters 4, 5, 9, 12
Costing, Planning, Budgeting
Personnel focus on realistic expectations
State of the District Report: Data collection
Research Policy Brief topics
Continue to expand relevant economics/finance concepts and thinking
Required and recommended CourseWeb materials (It is recommended unless
specifically required – many materials for reference if needed)
Class engagement: in class and online
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EVIDENCE COURSE CONTENT
ADDRESSES STANDARDS
WHEN
MINOR
EMPHASIS
Students’ district planning assignments require
them to assess the risks of aligning budgets
with community-based strategic planning
efforts.
Students demonstrate basic costing and cost
effectiveness concepts at all levels of planning
through their assignments.
February
X
February
X
Core
Two
Students demonstrate basic funds accounting
(types of funds and purposes), unit costing and
forecasting within PDE budgetary guidelines.
February
X
Core
Two
Students demonstrate their budgeting
knowledge and skills related to cost
effectiveness (costs/benefits), value, adequacy,
productivity, return on investment).
REVENUES
February
X
Students demonstrate basic budgeting
knowledge and skills for revenue generation
including the types of taxation, state funding
formulas and mandates, enrollment forecasting,
student and taxpayer demographics.
Core
Students’ district-level planning assignments
Three require an assessment of improvement efforts
and their relative benefits for students, parents
and the community, and costs for taxpayers.
Core
Students analyze district plans for the
One
community’s tax capacities and trends, paying
particular attention to problems created by the
shapes of populations.
Core
Students cost a state or federal mandate to see
Two
how its policies affect broader district-wide
strategic reform efforts.
February
X
February
X
February
X
February
X
Core
They also construct board-level presentations
Three of their analyses of current operations. They
evaluate legal and community issues related to
the district’s resource capacities and trends.
Core
Students interview their business manager
Two
about the pros and cons of current financial
management software and analyze how it
supports alignment with the district’s strategic
plans, mandates and collective bargaining
agreements.
February
Core
Two
Core
Two
A.
Core
Two
10
February
MAJOR
EMPHASIS
X
VERSION: July 13, 17
Core
Two
Students interview a successful superintendent
about their criteria in selecting a business
manager.
February
X
MARCH AND APRIL
READINGS:
M&S, Chapters 6, 7, 8, 10, 11
Costing, Planning, Budgeting
Infrastructure focus
State of the District:
March, Data Analysis
April, Data Presentation
Policy Brief
March: Analysis and Drafts
April: Finals and Presentations
Continue to expand relevant economics/finance concepts and thinking
Required and recommended CourseWeb materials (It is recommended unless
specifically required – many materials for reference if needed)
Productivity management
Class engagement: in class and online
CourseWeb materials
EVIDENCE COURSE CONTENT
ADDRESSES STANDARD
WHEN
MINOR
EMPHASIS
MAJOR
EMPHASIS
B.
EXPENDITURES
Core Three
Students’ district-level planning assignments
require an assessment of improvement
efforts and their relative benefits for
students, parents and the community, and
costs for taxpayers.
Students analyze the context in which a fiscal
problem is embedded (e.g., pension funds) to
assess its importance in policy formation,
implementation and evaluation.
Students, analyze the costs and cost
effectiveness of a local contract
March
and April
X
March
and April
X
March
and April
X
Students evaluate district’s alignment
between a strategic plan’s professional
development for continuous learning and its
return on investment.
March
and April
Core Three
Core Two
Corollary
One
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VERSION: July 13, 17
Core One
Core One
Core One
Corollary
One
Corollary
Four
Corollary
Five
Corollary
Six
III
CORR Two
Students analyze publicly accessible
materials related to board-approved
strategic issues for school districts in PA and
other states. Students assess the
comparative advantages generated by
districts’ communications of its value with
parents and taxpayers.
Students share, where possible experiences
where budgeting is seen as a continuous,
team-level, district-wide problem-solving
activity, e.g., energy cost savings, more
efficient use of printing services, privatesector revenue generation, reduction of
external tuition costs, etc.
Students analyze and synthesize data from a
community-based strategic planning focus on
personal success and linked to ongoing
operations and capital planning.
Students analyze a district’s plans for
adequate safety measures and their
affordability and their consequences for
other areas of the budget.
Students interview a business manager and a
superintendent about a policy they have put
in place to discourage corruption.
Students analyze and evaluate trends and
make forecasts about the alignment across a
district’s major policies over time.
Students calculate the cost per staff member
for professional development, aligning it with
the district’s strategic plans, and then
evaluate its relative effectiveness over time.
MANAGING PLANNING
Students analyze five-year trends for
revenues, expenditures, community tax
capacities and election patterns.
12
March
and April
X
March
and April
X
March
and April
X
March
and April
X
March
and April
X
March
and April
X
March
and April
X
March
and April
X