ADEQUACY

By Elias S Gootzeit

ADEQUACY, or the notion that school funding should be geared to minimum educational outcomes is a focus that requires a reliable, flexible cost model that WE MUST DEMAND from New York State in its design of a finance system that works for Mount Vernon children by affording them a sound basic education, while providing sufficient funding that recognizes the limited resources of Mount Vernon's tax base.

What Is Adequacy? the adequacy movement links definitions of adequate resources to those of adequate outcomes. The concept of adequacy includes two distinct but related components: outcomes and resources.

Outcomes Instead of focusing on equalizing inputs, the adequacy movement requires that school policy and finance be geared toward high minimum outcomes for each student. Outcomes are often measured by test scores, graduation or attendance rates, or some combination of such criteria.

Resources. The second component of adequacy focuses on a "per pupil resource amount sufficient to achieve the performance objective." The provision of adequate financing requires consideration of "the level of base spending needed to teach the average student to state standards"; and additional resources needed to bring students with special needs up to the same standards.

Like the standards movement, the concept of adequacy is centered on high-minimum outcomes. Unlike the standards movement, however,adequacy-oriented policy links those outcomes to the resources needed to achieve them. To determine the cost of funding schools under this new scheme, we must identify school districts that meet certain outcome criteria. Specifically, these districts are those that achieve a dropout rate of less than 3 percent, an attendance rate of 93 percent, and a certain passage rate on a series of proficiency tests. We then conclude that the average per pupil spending in the schools that meet those criteria should provide any school with a sufficient level of resources to achieve those outcomes. Finally, the State must adjust its level of resources for our district due to the special needs of the community and population, such as high transportation costs, high drop out rate, acting out behavior, high percentage of children with disabilities; as well as the pattern and practice of 43 of the 45 Westchester municipalities sending high needs families to our district using Section 8 Housing vouchers, etc. through the County's Department of Social Services for many decades.