CPS to switch to per-student funding

Chicago Public Schools, or CPS, announced recently that it will make a shift next fiscal year to a funding system that gives schools a certain amount of money per student instead of per position as it currently does. Catalyst Chicago, a local independent news magazine devoted to education, explains why CPS made the change: “CPS officials hailed...

Chicago Public Schools, or CPS, announced recently that it will make a shift next fiscal year to a funding system that gives schools a certain amount of money per student instead of per position as it currently does.

Catalyst Chicago, a local independent news magazine devoted to education, explains why CPS made the change:

“CPS officials hailed the move as a way to give principals more power over their budgets and emphasized that the switch is not being done to save money.”

One upside of this change is that it will finally provide Chicago charter schools with the same amount of funding on a per-student basis as traditional schools – a policy that charters have long advocated for.

Some union officials fear that this new funding system will give principals the leeway to fire experienced, expensive teachers. But these claims are overstated.

CPS has already agreed to give schools with a high share of experienced teachers more money to cover their human resources costs. Additionally, the costs associated with firing and hiring new teachers is high, providing a disincentive for principals to go on a firing spree.

This transition to per-student funding is a welcome change in policy – a move that more closely resembles money following the child.

But it doesn’t go far enough.

CPS should instead embrace a funding model where education money goes into the hands of parents, not principals. Doing so would encourage competition, spur innovation, promote efficiency and boost student outcomes in a city that desperately needs real education reform.