School Budgeting for Hard Times

"The current fiscal crisis is clearly having a negative impact on our schools. This book offers practical strategies to overcome obstacles and constraints, and is essential for all school leaders."—David Freitas, ProfessorIndiana University South Bend"This reader-friendly and relatable book speaks directly to the practitioner, offering down-to-earth advice and realistic examples." —David L. Flynn, Director, Commission on Public Elementary and Middle Schools, Adjunct Professor of Educational AdministrationNew England Association of Schools and Colleges, Bedford, MA, and Cambridge College, MAA win-win solution to the battle of the budgetAre you challenged to improve your school′s productivity with existing or even diminishing resources? It can be done, and School Budgeting for Hard Times will show you how. Author William K. Poston, Jr. has fought and won many budget battles. He and renowned educator Fenwick W. English, who provides the book′s foreword, contend that the needs of curriculum and learning should drive the budgeting process—not the other way around. The solution is implementing performance-based budgeting. This text gives step-by-step instructions for:Using assessment data to determine budget prioritiesApplying quality enhancement principles to the process Incorporating measurable performance to attain fundingDiscover how to do more with less. These proven strategies will help you attain the truly important goals while avoiding the dire cutbacks that threaten local educational systems′ effectiveness.

Learn more about William Poston′s PD offeringsWilliam K. Poston Jr. is an Emeritus Professor of educational leadership and policy studies at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, where he served for 17 years. A former math and physics teacher, he accumulated 25 years of experience in educational administration including 15 years as a superintendent in Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona, and in Billings, Montana. His experience includes serving as executive director of the Iowa School Business Management Academy—the licensure program for school business managers in Iowa—for 15 years. He is the originator of curriculum-driven budgeting, and he has led over 75 curriculum audits. Poston has written 13 books and over 40 journal articles and continues to provide extensive service to schools in the areas of evaluation, curriculum management auditing, performance-based budgeting, and organizational quality improvement.