Application of the ithink ® System Dynamics Software Program to the Social Fabric Matrix to Analyze Public School Finance Systems

Abstract

State finance systems for public elementary and secondary education are a complex institution of court decisions and state statutes, working together as rules of law, agency rules and regulations, and administrative codes. The ithink® Analyst system dynamics software program and the social fabric matrix (SFM) were used for a public school finance lawsuit in the state of Nebraska. A model of Nebraska’s education finance system, known as the Tax Equity and Educational Opportunities Support Act (TEEOSA), is constructed by integrating into the SFM the system components of belief statements, laws, rules, regulations, public finance data, and annual financial reports of public school districts, student enrollment data, and public organizations in an Excel spreadsheet. Digraphs are created using ithink® Analyst system dynamics program to show the flows and deliveries between and within the parts of the Nebraska education finance system. This analysis is useful in policy evaluation and development, law and rule making, and court ruling.

This chapter contains two sections. The first section will describe the key structural components of the Nebraska state aid formula as organized through the SFM. The second section demonstrates the general application of the ithink® Analyst to model state aid to public education as an integrated system. (This chapter does not describe or address system dynamics.)