Decentralizing Dollars Under School-Based Management: Have Policies Changed?

Abstract

Many school districts are moving rapidly toward a decentralized management style. However, little has been written on the financial dimensions of school-based management. This article reports on budgeting policies in five large urban school districts that have adopted school-based management to characterize the extent to which dollars have been decentralized, along with decision-making responsibility and authority. Contrary to previous research on school-based management, which found that traditional patterns of decision making were difficult to alter and that school site councils rarely made "real " or substantive decisions, this study suggests that new patterns of decision making exist that effectively empower building-level educators and community members with substantial discretion over many resources.

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