Overcoming the Educational Resource Equity Gap

State school finance formula cause funding inadequacy, allocative inefficiency, and educational resource equity gaps. Legislative and court-ordered remedies have failed to solve the disparities among schools and districts. This book’s ground-breaking innovation shows how to shift the public education finance paradigm to fund K-12 public education properly, fully, and equitably by eliminating the duplicative and unnecessary layer of county government nationwide and repurposing those tax dollars while implementing economies of scale to achieve allocative efficiency.

Dr. Coffin has written the definitive book on K-12 equitable resource allocation, funding, budgeting, governance, and operational excellence for the twenty-first century. Overcoming the Educational Resource Equity Gap is a prescient read that informs schools and districts how to achieve equal educational opportunity, allocative efficiency, economies of scale, resource equity, and financial stability as well as sustainability amid the epic COVID pandemic, social justice crises, climate change existential threats, economic upheaval, and increasingly scarce resources. A hands-on approach to achieving educational resource equity for readers ranging from those entering the field to those well-versed in the field, Overcoming the Educational Resource Equity Gap provides solutions for all stakeholders. In addition, Dr. Coffin's holistic budgeting model can prevent financial exigency, allocative inequities, and inefficiency while enabling schools and districts not only to achieve financial sustainability but also educational as well as operational excellence. An extremely well-written, researched, documented, and organized volume, with contributions from leading academicians, practitioners, and policy makers in the world of educational equity, finance, economics, and operations, this book will be an invaluable asset for educators, administrators, policy makers, researchers, and practitioners, as well as those who are interested in devising systems of equal opportunity, allocative efficiency, economies of scale, resource equity, and financial sustainability to best serve all of America's students regardless of where or how they attend school.--Bruce S. Cooper, PhD, emeritus professor and vice chair, Division of Administration, Policy and Urban Education, Fordham University

Stephen V. Coffin, PhD, MBA, MPA, is an Adjunct Professor of School Finance and Higher Education Economics and Finance for Montclair State University’s Graduate School of Education and an Adjunct Professor of Finance for the University of Dayton’s Online Ed.D. Program.