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Download the full Lesson Plan including the Student Activity Sheets here (PDF)
Background: As school districts throughout the U.S. struggle with funding issues, more and more people with the financial means to send their
children to private schools are choosing this option, particularly in major urban school districts where the property tax base does not offer sufficient
revenue to fund the needs of the district adequately. This is causing many schools to become segregated based on their financial status. When looking
at what urban neighborhoods who have a low socio-economic status can offer students and comparing it to what suburban school districts have in terms
of resources, it is evident that the educational opportunities provided by the schools are not equal. The Campaign for Fiscal Equity is a group of
concerned citizens who have organized, filed lawsuits, and worked to equalize the educational opportunities provided to students in New York City and
across the state. Changes in the way schools are funded have resulted in the argument that all students should be provided a "sound basic education".
While many districts across the country have similar problems, by calling attention to the New York City public schools and what people have done to
make changes in the way education is funded, students can see the cost of public schools, understand the struggles schools face to provide "sound
basic education", and gain understanding and appreciation for what the educational system in the U.S. is responsible for providing to students.
Grade Levels: Grades 6-12
Subject Areas: Math, Social Studies, Civics, Language Arts
Estimated Time:
Students will need 3-4 forty-five minute class periods to complete all three
parts of the lesson plan.
Students will:
1. State their opinions about school funding and the use of monetary resources
by school districts and use reasons, facts, and examples to support their ideas.
2. Participate in a variety of class discussion and questioning activities related
to school funding.
3. Use notetaking skills to gather facts and information about school funding
issues from film and Internet resources.
4. Compare sets of data related to school funding and draw conclusions based
on these comparisons.
5. Participate in group brainstorming activities about what is needed for a "sound basic education".
6. Complete a number of real-world math problems when developing a realistic
budget for what to costs schools to provide a "sound basic education" using a
variety of basic computation skills (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division).
7. Present to classmates statistical data and percentages related to the cost
of providing a "sound basic education" based
upon their calculations.
8. Use higher order thinking skills and analysis of information and facts to
create an essay in response to what they learned about the cost of education
and types of educational opportunities available to students based upon school
funding.
This lesson correlates to the national McREL standards located online at http://www.mcrel.org/standards-benchmarks
Math
Standard 2: Understands and applies basic and advanced properties of the concepts
of numbers
Standard 3: Uses basic and advanced procedures while performing the processes
of computation
Standard 6: Understands and applies basic and advanced concepts of statistics
and data analysis
Language Arts
Writing
Standard 3: Uses grammatical and mechanical conventions in written compositions
Standard 4: Gathers and uses information for research purposes
Reading
Standard 7: Uses reading skills and strategies to understand and interpret a
variety of informational texts
Listening and Speaking
Standard 8: Uses listening and speaking strategies to understand and interpret
visual media
Viewing
Standard 9: Uses viewing skills and strategies to understand and interpret visual
media
Thinking and Reasoning
Standard 1: Understands and applies the basic principles of presenting an argument
Standard 5: Applies basic trouble-shooting and problem-solving techniques
Standard 6: Applies decision making techniques
Working with Others
Standard 1: Contributes to the overall effort of a group
Standard 4: Displays effective interpersonal communication skills
- What Does It Cost to Educate a Child Worksheet (provided with plan - Download)
- Television and vcr for viewing the film
- Computers with Internet access or other library resource materials
OR
- Printed data or summary information from the National Center for Educational
Statistics at http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/quickfacts.asp, Common Core of Data and
the Campaign for Fiscal Equity web site at http://www.cfequity.org/ FAQ information.
- Expert Panel Members - contacted in advance and given specific information
about the content of the lesson, the types of questions students will be asking,
and the type of information and data they should have ready to supply to students.
NOTE: To purchase "Beyond Brown: Pursuing the Promise" on
video or DVD visit www.firelightmedia.org or call 1-800-343-5540 or write to:
Firelight Media
P.O. Box 1084
Harriman, NY 10926
NOTE: If bringing a "Panel of Experts" into the classroom is not feasible, teachers should gather the appropriate data from the appropriate sources and
organize this data into some sort of printed packet of information that students can use as a research source. If opting for this type of plan, please
modify the procedures for Part 2 Steps 8-9 and Part 3 Steps 10-13 to reflect use of the resource document rather than the presence of the "Panel of
Experts" in the classroom.
Part 1: Learning about School Funding
1. Create student interest in school funding by writing the following
on the board/overhead:
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• Who paid for you to be here today? Without discussion, ask students to think about this question for one minute.
Have them use scratch paper to create a list of "who paid". |
2. Once lists have been created, have students share their answers as you record
their responses on the board/overhead. Ask students to explain and back up their
answers when needed.
3. Watch the section from "Beyond Brown " from 24:30 to 33:30. This portion of the film documents funding issues within the New York City public
school system and how lackof funding and poor quality schools is causing people to move to other school districts or attend private schools if they can
afford to in order to receive a quality education. Follow up viewing with a brief discussion addressing questions such as:
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• How does school funding, or lack of it, segregate schools? What examples did
you see in the film?
• Should wealthy school districts help pay the costs of poor school districts
in order to make educational opportunities for students more equal? Why or why
not?
• What were some of the examples of ways that underfunded schools differed from
thosewith adequate or above average funding?
Give examples you saw from the film.
• How does the quality of your school compare with the two extremes you saw in
the film? Give examples to support your opinion.
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Follow up on this discussion by referring students to the Beyond Brown web site's "It's All About the Money" and
Educator sections to view graphs and statistics related to the funding of U.S.
schools as well as see virtual comparisons of New York school facilities.
4. Using research data provided from sources such as the National Center for
Educational Statistics at http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/quickfacts.asp, use the Common
Core of Data to present to students the number of students in their state currently
enrolled in public schools, the total amount of money spent on education, the
sources of this funding, and the cost spent per pupil in the state. Using data
provided by the school district, if available, show students the amount of money
spent per pupil in the district. Compare these sets of data to the national average
of $7,548.00 spent per pupil. After comparing the amounts spent per pupil, revisit
the questions below to see if students' ideas about funding have changed now
that they know about the average spending per pupil and how their school ranks.
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• How does the quality of your school compare with the two extremes you saw in
the film?
• Should wealthy school districts help pay the costs of poor school districts
in order to make educational opportunities for students more equal? Why or why
not?
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5. Using the Campaign for Fiscal Equity web site at http://www.cfequity.org/as a resource, discuss what the state of New York has done to try to create more
equal educational opportunities for all students. By click on the FAQ section
of the web site, teachers and students can get an overview about the issues and
court decisions that have resulted from the efforts of the CFE. As a way to discuss
and summarize the contents of the web site, use questions such as:
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• How do some schools currently restrict students' opportunity to learn?
• What is the definition of a "sound basic education"?
• How can more funding for schools improve the quality of schools and educational
experiences?
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6. As an in-class or homework assignment, have students complete the following
activity.
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• Create a list of all of the things your school must provide in order for you to receive a "sound basic education".
Anything that costs money should be on this list. Be prepared to share your ideas
with classmates. |
Part 2: What does it cost to educate a child?
7. As class begins, have all students take out the assignment from step 6 above.
Assign students to small work groups (3-4 students) and have them share all of
the ideas they have about what schools must provide in order to give students
a "sound basic education". Each group should complete a
What Does It Cost to Educate a Child Worksheet, column 1 only, as they share
their ideas. One member of the group should file the worksheet for use later
in Part 3.
8. Explain to students that in order to complete the second part of the activity,
they must develop a list of questions for expert panel members. These questions
should address things such as
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• where the school district gets its funding
• how money is budgeted to be spent in the schools
• who decides how much money each district and each school receive each year
• who decides which programs (sports, music, art, etc.) are funded and which
are not?
• how much money does it cost to provide each of the items you said were necessary for a "sound basic education"?
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9. Once each group completes their list of questions, the questions should be
submitted to the teacher and photocopied for each student in the group.
This way the sheets can be used for notetaking in Part 3 of the lesson.
Part 3: Creating a Realistic Budget
10. Begin class by redistributing the list of questions developed in Step 8 above.
Next, introduce students to the "Panel of Experts" that you have
assembled for the classroom question and answer session. Finally, review the
rules you have for asking questions of panel members.
11. Before the first question is presented, direct students to take our their
list of questions so they can use them for asking questions as well as for recording
the answers to questions and other factual information from the panel members.
Using notetaking skills will be extremely important for this activity.
12. Allow students 20-30 minutes to question expert panel members. When questioning
is complete, thank panel members and direct students back to their small work
groups.
13. Using what they learned from the panel discussion, have students complete
the remainder of the What Does It Cost to Educate a Child Worksheet as a group.
Allow 15-20 minutes for this activity. Encourage students to complete all math
activities accurately and to double check their answers.
14. To close the activity, have each group elect a representative to share their
findings with the class. This speaker should clearly summarize the results their
group had for the "Overall Statistics" section of the worksheet. Collect the
worksheets from each group to evaluate the accuracy of the math problems.
15. Using their experiences and what they have learned about the realistic costs
of educating students in American schools, have students write a 1-page essay
that addresses the topics:
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• Who is paying for your education?
• In your opinion, what steps should be taken to ensure that all schools have the necessary resources to provide each student
with a "solid basic education"?
• How has completing the project affected your opinion about the type and quality
of education you are receiving?
• Do you believe you are getting a "solid basic education"? Why?
• Has your work on this assignment affected your appreciation for the educational
opportunities that are available to you? Why?
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1. Students could receive participation grades for involvement in class discussions
and questioning activities and group work.
2. All group members should receive completion grades for their work on the What
Does it Cost to Educate a Child Worksheet and the presentation of the group data.
3. Students should receive individual scores for completion of the 1-page essay.
Teachers could use a scoring guide or peer or self-evaluation forms to score
essays as well.
1. Encourage students to share their opinions about school funding through lobbying
local, state, and national lawmakers about their opinions on school funding.
This could be done through email or letter writing campaigns or by sending letters
to the editor of the school or local newspaper stating their ideas about the
topic.
National Center for Educational Statistics
Find facts and figures about education spending, school enrollment, and revenue
generated for education in the Common Core of Data at http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/quickfacts.asp
Campaign for Fiscal Equity
Learn the definition of "sound basic education" and get information about the
movement and lawsuits intended to equalize educational opportunities for all
students by visiting the web site: http://www.cfequity.org/. See the FAQ section
for specific data and facts.
Beyond Brown: Pursuing the Promise
Visit the "It's All About the Money" section of the site at http://www.pbs.org/beyondbrown/legacy/money_summary.html to learn facts about funding for public schools and see statistics about current
inequities among school districts. Go to the video portion of this section to
see a comparison between the schools in two different New York neighborhoods.
Review public opinion graphs related to school funding and racial disparities
in education today and take an interactive tour comparing facilities available
in two New York schools by accessing the "For Educators" section at http://www.pbs.org/beyondbrown/foreducators/.
About the Author:
Lisa Prososki is an independent educational consultant who taught middle school
and high school English, social studies, reading, and technology courses for
twelve years. Prososki has worked extensively with PBS authoring and editing
many lesson plans for various PBS programs and Teacher - Source. In addition
to conducting workshops for teachers at various state and national meetings,
Prososki also works with many corporate clients creating training programs and
materials, facilitating leadership and operations workshops, and providing instructional
support for new program rollouts. Prososki has authored one book and also serves
as an editor for other writers of instructional materials.
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