Skip to main content

Utilization of the Social Fabric Matrix to Articulate a State System of Financial Aid for Public Schools and to Derive Conceptual Conclusions

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Institutional Analysis and Praxis

Abstract

Central government education formulas for the distribution of funds to local public schools have a long history in numerous countries, with special importance at the state level in the United States. Such formulas have been formulated to express an array of concerns to include equity, ability to pay, adequacy, need, willingness to pay taxes, geographical sparcity, tax burdens, the political power to acquire more money for an area, and so forth. The differentiation and elaboration of school-aid formulas have led to the evolution of greater formula complexity and the emergence of very different kinds of school finance systems in different states. The social fabric matrix is utilized to articulate the Nebraska State system used for the distribution of financial aid to kindergarten- through- grade- 12 public schools. This demonstrates how states can model their systems in order to observe the interconnections through algebraic formula terms in order to determine the consequences of planned changes. The findings of the analysis are also drawn upon for conceptual conclusions about school-aid policy, rules, and systems.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Rules are delivered by institutional organizations, so, if possible, it is best to include the institutional organizations as the delivering and receiving components in the rows and columns of the SFM (as in Fig. 1) with the rules in the cells. This clarifies the row institutions that are responsible for the delivery of the rules and the column institutions with a 1 in the cells across the delivery row that help institute the rules. It is possible to list only the rules in the delivery rows of the SFM, but this does not explicitly indicate the source of rules, thus making it appear that rules stand alone. This is the way new institutional economists might use the SFM, or anyone who wants to emphasize the importance of a set of rules in a problem area without indicating the source of the rules.

  2. 2.

     All statutes cited, along with the relevant list of source laws, can be found at Nebraska legislative documents (2008) (see references).

  3. 3.

    The next analytical function that should be completed is to apply calculus to the whole formula. Such a total formula analysis would allow for the determination of distributional and incentive impacts among school districts if different aspects of the formula were to change. The calculation of the derivative of the formula would reveal the change in state funding for the district as the various aspects of the formula change. For example, what is the effect on state financing of a change in local school expenditures, or, what is the distributional effect on all other districts as local expenditures change in one district? There are numerous questions that can be answered with the first derivative. The algebraic definition found from the SFM cells provides an opportunity for partial derivatives to be used to find the kinds of rewards, incentives, and distributional effects that the structure provides for individual districts and among districts.

  4. 4.

     Much of the legislation for equalization in the part of the formula not presented here fails because of the inclusion of hold harmless clauses in that legislation.

References

  • Elsner W (2007) Why meso? On ‘aggregation’ and ‘emergence’ and why and how the meso level is essential in social economics. Forum Social Econ 36(1):1–16

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harcourt M, Wood G, Roper I (2007) The importance of legislated employment protection for worker commitment in coordinated market economies. J Econ Issues 41(4):961–980

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayden FG (1998) Normative analysis of instituted processes. In: Fayazmanesh S, MR Tool (eds) Institutionalist theory and applications: essays in honour of Paul Dale Bush, vol 2. Edward Elgar, North Hampton, MA, pp 89–107

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayden FG (2006) Policymaking for a good society: the social fabric matrix approach to policy analysis and program evolution. Springer, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • King RA, Swanson AD, Sweetland SR (2003) School finance: achieving standards with equity and efficiency. Allyn and Bacon, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Morgan DC, Hayden FG (1970) Elementary and secondary education aid: toward an optimal program for the State Government of Texas. The University of Texas at Austin, Austin

    Google Scholar 

  • Musgrave RA (1961) Approaches to a fiscal theory of political federalism. In: Conference of Economic Research (ed) Public finances: needs, sources, and utilization. National Bureau. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, pp 97–122

    Google Scholar 

  • Nebraska Department of Education (2006) Annual financial report of Nebraska school districts 2005–2006 AFR. http://ess.nde.state.ne.us/SchoolFinance/AFR/Downloads0506/afr.xls. Accessed 18 June 2008

  • Nebraska Department of Education (2007) Tax equity and educational opportunities support act certification of 2006–2007 state aid. Education support services. Nebraska Department of Education, Lincoln, NE

    Google Scholar 

  • Nebraska legislative documents, revised statutes, chapter 79: schools http://uniweb.legislature.ne.gov/legaldocs/view.php?page=index_statutes (2008) Accessed 18 June 2008

  • Schmid AA (2004) Conflict and cooperation: institutional and behavioral economics. Blackwell, Malden, MA

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Appendix: Abbreviation and Symbol Reference

Appendix: Abbreviation and Symbol Reference

ADA:

average daily attendance

ADM:

average daily membership

AE:

adult education

BAGR:

basic allowable growth rate for the school district

C:

correspondent variable representing the percentage in the poverty factor

CS:

community services

FDKS:

Fall membership of the Fall prior to the state-aid payment year of full-day kindergarten through grade six students

FDKSC:

Fall membership of the Fall prior to the state-aid payment year of full-day kindergarten through grade six students contracted out

FM:

Fall membership

FS:

formula students

GFDSP:

General Fund debt service principal

i:

the individual unit in a series

ILT:

in-lieu-of transportation

IndLandADA:

Indian Land ADA students

K:

Fall membership of the Fall prior to the state-aid payment year of kindergarten students

KC:

Fall membership of the Fall prior to the state-aid payment year of kindergarten students contracted out

K-12:

Kindergarten through grade twelve

LEP:

Limited English proficiency students

LI:

low income students. Either the (1) number of students receiving free lunch, or (2) number of low income children in the school district as reported by the Nebraska Department of Revenue, whichever of the two is greater.

MCCA:

receipts from Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act of 1988

n:

the final number in a series

NDE:

Nebraska Department of Education

NT:

Fall membership of the Fall prior to the state-aid payment year of grades nine through twelve students

NTC:

Fall membership of the Fall prior to the state-aid payment year of grades nine through twelve students contracted out

PRM:

pupil route miles

RIP:

retirement incentive programs

SBG:

growth rate allowed by special action of school board

SDA:

staff development assistance

SE:

Fall membership of the Fall prior to the state-aid payment year of grades seven though eight students contracted out

SEC:

Fall membership of the Fall prior to the state-aid payment year of grades seven through eight students contracted out

SFM:

social fabric matrix

SpEdSchAge:

special education school age

SS:

summer school

StCat:

state categorical programs

TEEOSA:

Tax Equity and Educational Opportunities Support Act

TfOF:

transfers from other schools

TGFOE:

total General Fund Operating Expenses

TP:

tuition paid

TPd:

Transportation Paid to Another District

TRPT:

Total Regular Pupil Transportation

Trans2:

transportation receipts 1-1-1310-000 and 1-1-1320-000

TransPd:

transportation paid to another district

TR2:

tuition receipts 1-1-1210-000 and 1-1-1220-000

TS:

tuition students

WrdsSt&Crt:

payment for wards of the state and wards of the court

y:

year

yo, y-1, y-2, y-3, y-4:

year zero, year minus one, year minus two, year minus three, and year minus four respectively, with yo being the state aid payment year

δ:

delta; used in delta method for the poverty factor

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Hayden, F.G. (2009). Utilization of the Social Fabric Matrix to Articulate a State System of Financial Aid for Public Schools and to Derive Conceptual Conclusions. In: Natarajan, T., Elsner, W., Fullwiler, S. (eds) Institutional Analysis and Praxis. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-88741-8_10

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics