Dive Brief:
- Districts across the country are turning to community organizations to support the nonacademic needs of their students, offering school choice, incorporating blended learning and addressing cultural bias to improve equity for all students.
- District Administration reports community partners that focus on the nonacademic needs of students can free up teachers to address educational needs, allowing schools to make the most out of the time they have with students.
- Some districts are using school choice to assess school quality and target improvements, while others are incorporating online learning options to help students stay on track, and still more are focusing on teacher training to address biases that impact the classroom and student achievement.
Dive Insight:
The nation’s public school system is meant to be an equalizer that allows students of all class backgrounds to be successful. But the reality is that poor students and students of color are disproportionately represented in the nation’s lowest-performing schools.
When it comes to school funding, a national report card produced by the Education Law Center found only New Jersey and Massachusetts to be well-positioned on four funding fairness indicators in 2015. Vermont, Wyoming, North Dakota and Nevada have funding formulas that are especially regressive, providing less state funding per-student in high-poverty districts than low-poverty districts.
Community partnerships are a good way to get around low state funding and share the burden. They also give schools an opportunity to increase their own capacity, expanding opportunities for students that might prepare them for college and career.