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ERIC Number: ED257928
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1985-May
Pages: 266
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
What Are We Willing to Pay for School Reform? An Analysis of the Costs of Educational Reform in Illinois.
Nelson, F. Howard; Hess, G. Alfred, Jr.
This draft document presents an analysis of all major educational reform proposals before the Illinois General Assembly, assessing the costs of implementation and what benefits might be expected for the funding levels contained in the proposals themselves. The 18 areas examined are (1) student testing; (2) student retention/remediation; (3) dropout reduction; (4) curriculum and academic standards; (5) instructional mandates; (6) innovative service delivery; (7) compulsory attendance ages; (8) early childhood education; (9) lengthened school day/year; (10) teacher training and certification; (11) teacher evaluation; (12) scholarships, internships and recruiting; (13) staff development; (14) administrator training, certification and duties; (15) salaries and performance pay; (16) school district reorganization; (17) school-business relations; and (18) public information and public relations. Looking at these areas, the paper describes the range of suggestions contained in the various packages of reform proposals, reviews research on the effects of similar reforms in other States, examines cost estimates contained in various reports, and suggests what actual implementation costs are likely to be and, therefore, what additional resources will be required. For each reform area, costs are estimated for low, medium, and high levels of implementation. It is hypothesized that if all described reforms were to be enacted at the lowest level of implementation, Statewide additional costs would be $732.18 million. It is emphasized that this document is a draft report. Therefore, it does not contain any recommendations. However, it does conclude that: (1) the costs of current proposed reforms, even at the lowest implementation levels, far exceed the new resources being proposed to fund reform efforts; (2) the General Assembly must determine, in the allocation process, which of a range of implementation levels will be enacted; and (3) proposals for only minimal increases in expenditures are unlikely to produce significant changes in the ways public schools currently operate and perform. (RDN)
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Spencer Foundation, Chicago, IL.
Authoring Institution: Chicago Panel on Public School Finances, IL.
Identifiers - Location: Arkansas; California; Florida; Illinois; Indiana; Kentucky; New York; South Carolina; Tennessee; Texas; West Virginia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A