OUSD Expenditures Per Pupil: Charter vs. Traditional Public Schools

This is a comparison between per pupil spending at Oakland Unified School District’s charter schools and its traditional public schools. The figures were obtained from the SARCs (School Accountability Report Cards) currently posted on the OUSD Web site, section VIII - School Finances.*

OUSD Charter Schools
Expenditures Per Pupil (Fiscal Year 2006-07)	Expenditures Per Pupil (Basic)	Expenditures Per Pupil (Supplemental)	Total Expenditures Per Pupil
MEDIAN	$6950	$1200	$8764
RANGE	$5113-$8757	$276-$5505	$5931-13290
AVERAGE	$7063	$1693	$8740

OUSD Traditional Public Schools
Expenditures Per Pupil (Fiscal Year 2006-07)	Expenditures Per Pupil (Basic)	Expenditures Per Pupil (Supplemental)	Total Expenditures Per Pupil
MEDIAN	$5015	$1613	$6492
RANGE	$4126-$6354	$241-$2899	$4630-$8886
AVERAGE	$4973	$1533	$6506

Charter Schools: Highest Expenditures Per Pupil (Fiscal Year 2006-07)
1. Oakland Military Institute	$13290
2. Oakland School For the Arts	$11000
3. Millsmont Academy	$10454
4. American Indian Public Charter School II	$9954
5. Monarch Academy	$9712

The highest expenditures per pupil in all of OUSD are at the two charter schools which were launched and are actively supported by former Oakland mayor Jerry Brown: the Oakland Military Institute (OMI) and the Oakland School for the Arts (OSA).

Spending at OMI exceeded the top per pupil spending at any traditional public school by $4404.

Spending at OSA exceeded the top per pupil spending at any traditional public school by $2114.

Traditional public schools: Highest Expenditures Per Pupil (Fiscal Year 2006-07)
1. Sankofa	$8886
2. Burkhalter	$8052
3. EnCompass	$8044
4. Acorn Woodland	$7995
5. Maxwell Park	$7847
6. PLACE	$7811
7. International Community	$7779
8. Think College Now	$7703
9. Reach	$7687
10. Rise	$7648

Charter Schools: Lowest Expenditures Per Pupil (Fiscal Year 2006-07)
1. Education for Change Achieve Academy	$5931
2. American Indian Public High School**	$6122
3. Education for Change at Cox	$7175
4. Oakland Charter High	$7438
5. Oakland Charter Academy	$7450

** Oddly, this amount does not reflect a Walton Family Foundation gift of $230,000 given to the American Indian Public High School in 2006 (2007 Form 990, for grants given in 2006). During 2006-07, this school's total student body was 72 students. This would mean an additional $3194.44 per pupil, that is, if the money was spent on students at the school it was designated for. Maybe this large amount of money would be reflected in per pupil expenditures for a different year. Or, perhaps the grantors place loose, or no, restrictions on how the grantees spend the money. It would be illuminating if the District, or some other entity, would investigate this detail.

Traditional public schools: Lowest Expenditures Per Pupil (Fiscal Year 2006-07)
1. Montera	$4630
2. Skyline HS	$4873
3. Joaquin Miller	$5065
4. Chabot Elementary	$5125
5. Edna Brewer	$5266
6. Thornhill	$5358
7. Oakland High	$5384
8. Hillcrest	$5440
9. Bret Harte	$5445
10. Roosevelt Middle	$5530

The complete tables are below.

OUSD Charter Schools
Expenditures Per Pupil (Fiscal Year 2006-07)	Expenditures Per Pupil (Basic)	Expenditures Per Pupil (Supplemental)	Total Expenditures Per Pupil
American Indian Public Charter School	Not specified	Not specified	$8297
American Indian Public Charter School II	Not specified	Not specified	$9954
American Indian Public High School	Not specified	Not specified	$6122
Aviation High School	$8276	$1408	$9684
BayTech	$5113	$3609	$8722
Berkley Maynard Academy	$6530	$2234	$8764
Civicorps Elementary	Not specified	Not specified	$7597
COVA	$7000	$1000	$8000
East Oakland Leadership Academy	$6709	$2125	$8834
Education for Change Achieve Academy	$5517	$414	$5931
Education for Change at Cox	$5431	$1764	$7175
Lighthouse Community Charter High School	$8757	$838	$9505
Lighthouse Community Charter School	$8757	$838	$9505
Lionel Wilson	Not specified	Not specified	$8974
LPS College Park	$7292	$276	$7568
Millsmont Academy	Not specified	Not specified	$10454
Monarch Academy	Not specified	Not specified	$9712
North Oakland Community Charter	Not specified	Not specified	$8769
Oakland Charter Academy*	$6900	$550	$7450
Oakland Charter High*	$6888	$550	$7438
Oakland Military Institute	$7785	$5505	$13290
Oakland School For the Arts	$7000	$4000	$11000
Oakland Unity High School	$8691	$677	$9368
Reems Academy	$6357	$1301	$7657
MEAN	$6950	$1200	$8764
RANGE	$5113-$8757	$276-$5505	$5931-13290
AVERAGE	$7063	$1693	$8740

*Addition error appears in SARC report. This is the correct total.

OUSD Traditional Public Schools
Expenditures Per Pupil (Fiscal Year 2006-07)	Expenditures Per Pupil (Basic)	Expenditures Per Pupil (Supplemental)	Total Expenditures Per Pupil
Acorn Woodland	$5,440	$2555	$7995
Allendale	$4970	$1792	$6762
Alliance Academy	$4174	$1487	$5661
Ascend	$5035	$2214	$7250
Bella Vista	$5016	$1455	$6471
Bret Harte	$4367	$1077	$5445
Bridges Academy at Melrose	$4894	$1960	$6855
Brookfield Elementary	$4609	$1088	$5698
Burkhalter	$6210	$1842	$8052
Business and Information Technology	$4996	$1305	$6301
Carl Munck	$5036	$921	$5957
Chabot Elementary	$4884	$241	$5125
Claremont	$4743	$1827	$6571
Cleveland	$4844	$1314	$6158
Coliseum College Prep Academy	$4531	$2258	$6789
College Preparatory and Architecture Academy	$4907	$1584	$6492
Crocker Highlands	$5064	$560	$5624
East Oakland School of the Arts	$5116	$1361	$6476
Edna Brewer	$4126	$1140	$5266
Elmhurst Community Prep	$4231	$1668	$5899
Emerson Elementary	$4760	$1818	$6579
EnCompass	$5758	$2286	$8044
Esperanza	$5177	$2239	$7417
EXCEL	$4472	$1654	$6126
Explore	$4851	$1964	$6814
Far West	$5021	$919	$5941
Franklin	$4986	$1380	$6366
Fred T. Korematsu Discovery Academy	$5219	$1900	$7119
Frick	$4376	$1695	$6071
Fruitvale Elementary	$4924	$778	$5702
Garfield	$5143	$1674	$6817
Glenview	$5345	$1193	$6538
Grass Valley	$5390	$881	$6271
Hillcrest	$5003	$438	$5440
Hoover	$5179	$2011	$7190
Horace Mann	$5015	$2284	$7299
Howard	$5039	$917	$5957
International Community	$5711	$2068	$7779
Joaquin Miller	$4611	$453	$5065
Kaiser	$5133	$659	$5792
La Escuelita	$5218	$1646	$6865
Lafayette	$5289	$1948	$7237
Lakeview	$5214	$1302	$6516
Laurel	$5093	$1429	$6522
Lazear	$5087	$1906	$6994
Leadership Prep HS	$4717	$1530	$6248
LIFE Academy	$4320	$1653	$5973
Lincoln	$5125	$1642	$6767
Madison Middle	$4779	$1752	$6532
Mandela HS	$4700	$1549	$6250
Manzanita Community	$5043	$1917	$6960
Markham	$5065	$1424	$6489
Marshall	$4620	$1097	$5718
Martin Luther King, Jr.	$5526	$1931	$7457
Maxwell Park	$5795	$2052	$7847
Media College Prep	$4907	$1584	$6492
Melrose Leadership	$4611	$2899	$7511
MetWest	$5539	$913	$6452
Montclair	$5094	$528	$5622
Montera	$4282	$347	$4630
New Highland Academy	$4877	$1892	$6770
Oakland High	$4192	$1191	$5384
Oakland Technical HS	$4866	$851	$5718
Peralta	$5276	$1270	$6547
Piedmont	$5326	$1317	$6644
PLACE	$5552	$2259	$7811
Reach	$5676	$2011	$7687
Redwood Heights	$5159	$551	$5710
Rise	$5600	$2048	$7648
Robeson School of VPA	$4732	$1441	$6173
Roosevelt Middle	$4323	$1206	$5530
ROOTS International	$4299	$1833	$6133
Sankofa	$6354	$2532	$8886
Santa Fe	$5045	$1949	$6994
Sequoia	$5199	$1684	$6883
Skyline HS	$4182	$690	$4873
Sobrante Park	$5209	$2164	$7373
Think College Now	$5161	$2541	$7703
Thornhill	$5115	$243	$5358
United for Success	$4153	$1808	$5961
Urban Promise Academy	$4872	$2692	$7564
Westlake Middle	$4605	$1485	$6090
YES, Youth Empowerment	$4617	$1673	$6291
MEAN	$5015	$1613	$6492
RANGE	$4126-$6354	$241-$2899	$4630-$8886
AVERAGE	$4973	$1533	$6506

PLEASE NOTE: SARCs were not provided online for some charter schools which were in operation during the specified years. Some of the schools listed on 11/25/09 had SARCs which did not include expenditures for the specified year because they were not yet open. Also, I relabeled MEAN as MEDIAN, after someone corrected me about the use of those terms. Thank you, P.

The SARCs for 2008-09, which would cite expenditures for 2007-08, are not yet publicly available.

* ASAM schools (Alternative School Accountability Model) were not included: Community Day, Street Academy, and Dewey, as well as the Sojourner Truth Independent Study program.

Calling Clever Wordsmiths!

My older daughter bought a button machine when she was in high school and had started a little business with a friend. A few years ago, I pulled it out of the closet and made this button when I was getting really agitated about what the Broad-regime was doing to Oakland’s public school system (also read here and especially here). I wanted to do more than just stand around quietly and watch the destruction.

I’ve been thinking about buttons again lately.

Perhaps as you relax over the Thanksgiving holidays, you’ll have a chance to play around and come up with some concise, clever phrases to help get our point across. If you do, please post them in the comments section below.

Here are a few ideas to start with:

Broad Out NOW!

Hit the Road, Eli Broad!

Vulture Edu-Philanthropists Out, NOW!

Say “NO!” to Privatizing Our Public Schools

Halt the Corporate Attack on Public Schools

Bill Gates Knows Jack Squat About Public Education

Force Out the Corporate Infestation of Public Education

Drive the Corporate Schemers Out of Public Education

Bill Gates Might Know Computers, But Knows Jack Squat About Public Education

Who knows, bumper stickers might not be far behind.

It's been a long dry spell, but more and more people are catching on and speaking out. The grassroots movement is growing stronger, and your help is needed to add to the momentum!

Thanks, and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

PS: IdiomSite might be helpful for ideas.

Comparing Education Reform to Health Care

At Bridging Differences, a reader exhorts us to read a recent New York Times Magazine article which tells the story of a physician who is making use of data to drastically improve patient outcomes. She then challenges us to try to tell her why education is so different than medicine, proclaiming “There is good reason to start using standards and evidence-based decision-making in education,” and, “Enough excuses for the ‘art’ of teaching.”

Well I read the article, but my thoughts about what education can borrow from the story are a little different.

The report tells about Dr. Brent James, a Salt Lake City physician, who undertook a project to develop a protocol for the treatment of a severe respiratory condition which causes its victims to end up in ICU on a ventilator. James wrote the initial version of a protocol and left copies in a binder at patients’ bedsides so other doctors could refer to it and use it (or a portion of it), if they chose to do so. Their participation was totally optional.

Over time, a computerized record system tracked the patient outcomes, and a team met frequently to review the information and rewrite the protocol when it seemed wrong. The result of this careful, low pressure, collaborative effort was a highly refined and effective treatment plan. The protocol's eventual success was due to this entire process, a process which is very unlike any of the top-down mandates which teachers are subjected to these days.

Another doctor interviewed for the article states, “He [James] knows that the minute he says, ‘I’m right, and you must do this,’ he loses everybody but the true believers.” Near the end of the article, the author tells us, “James told me that one of his first challenges, when talking to a new group of doctors, is to persuade them he is not accusing them of failure.”

To today’s urban public school teachers, nothing in James’ approach will sound familiar.

The primary lesson in the story, as I see it, is about giving professionals due respect and how to best solicit their cooperation for change. James demonstrates how to be a highly skillful leader who earns trust as he uses a wide range of tools, which include collecting and evaluating data as well as maximizing collaboration, to produce improved results. At no time does he charge other doctors with being “failures,” or engages in name-calling as is commonly done to urban public school teachers today (such as calling their places of work “dropout factories” and “failing schools”).

Sadly, I believe it is from an utter societal disrespect for teachers which led to No Child Left Behind’s punitive use of data. As the story about Dr. James so perfectly illustrates, careful collection and analysis of data can be used in a much more mature and effective way.

The Broader, Bolder Approach proposes excellent alternatives to the currently popular, unbalanced school reform strategies, but unfortunately they haven't been presented to the public by the mainstream press. For instance, a 2009 report produced by the BBA recommends that next version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act permits states flexibility in designing their accountability systems, provided these systems include qualitative evaluation of school quality and do not rely primarily on standardized test scores to judge the success of schools. It proposes “a new accountability system that combines testing with qualitative evaluation is needed to replace the discredited No Child Left Behind Act.”

Specifically, BBA recommends that:

• The federal government should collect state-level data – mostly from an expanded National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) – on how students of different backgrounds perform in a broad range of academic subjects, as well as in the arts, physical health and fitness, citizenship habits, and other necessary knowledge and skills;
• State accountability systems should supplement higher quality standardized tests with qualitative evaluation of districts and schools to ensure the presence of a supportive school climate, high-quality classroom instruction and other resources and practices needed for student success.

It is important for the public to be informed about these discussions. As David Leonhardt, the author of the Times article, wrote:

This debate between intuition and empiricism is as old as Plato, who thought that knowledge came from intuitive reasoning, and Aristotle, who preferred observation. The argument has seemed especially intense lately, as one field after another has struggled to define the role of human judgment in a data-saturated society. The police officials in New York City who overhauled crime fighting were classic empiricists. The debate over education reform revolves around how well teachers can be measured and what the consequences of those measurements should be. These disagreements can sometimes be exaggerated, because everyone agrees that intuition and empiricism both have a role to play. But the fight over how to balance the two is a real one.

One last thought about comparing the work of doctors to that of teachers.

If one is using the work of doctors in the hospital setting, one must realize that this is an environment which controls absolutely everything done to the patient. Inputs and outputs are monitored every hour and no compliance on the part of the patient is required. For example, when patients refuse, or are unable, to take the pill by mouth, then they are given the medicine by injection. If they are disoriented and refuse to stay in bed, physical restraints will be applied.

If we are going to compare doctors to teachers, it would be more useful to use the example of doctors who see patients in a clinic setting. These doctors are not guaranteed that their patients will comply with any of the treatments which they prescribe. Advice can be given to take the medicine as directed, and to follow other treatment regimes, but this doesn’t mean that any of the recommendations will be followed. The ball is in the patient's court, along with their ability to pay for the prescription, or not, as well as the presence of enough family support to help them follow the prescribed treatments, or not.

Since they are self-selected or explicitly selected, the nature of today’s charter schools are the equivalent of physicians who absolutely refuse to see patients suffering from the most chronically severe health conditions, or those who are less-than-adequately compliant. There is little logic in comparing the outcomes of this particular set of doctors to those who provide treatment to any, and all, patients who happen to walk through their clinic doors, as is the case for the true public schools. Compliance with the mission of the school, or not, is a huge factor over which the traditional public school teachers only have a limited amount of control.

It is a national travesty that the voices aired most often by the media these days are those of the teacher-haters and clueless idealists who believe the fundamental reason for low academic achievement in our cities is because every urban public school teacher is incompetent and lazy. This is the sour attitude behind the dominant education reform movement and it is just plain wrong.

I am not saying that the functioning of schools could not be made better and more efficient. Any organization can, and should, constantly be tweaked, but it should be done with mutual respect and collaboration. Healthy and frequent self-assessment is a good operating standard for any organization, including our whole society and even the nuclear organization that exists in our homes. I also believe the vast majority of schools have been doing this to some extent all along.

It's time for the dominant school reform crowd to stop lying about how great charter schools are, and they need to stop attacking public school teachers. It's time for these people to face the fact that other societal factors are very much at play, and that, no matter how much they are perfected, schools will only be able to do so much.

The Perry Preschool Project & Reflections on Play

My guess is that the vast majority of people who spout off about education have never spent a significant amount of time with children. For most people, spending nearly everyday dealing exclusively with kids (any number, or any age) is not an easy thing to do, even when the children are their own.

Because much of this work can be frustrating drudgery, I think many parents who could afford to stay home with their young children are happy to hand their kid over to a minimally-paid nanny or daycare provider, then preschool teacher, to do the bulk of actual early childrearing. It’s probably a relief to be able to drive away to the world of adults where there are no ongoing messes, no nasty temper tantrums or crying spells, and no unpleasant potty accidents to contend with, day after day, week after week, and year after year. It seems like most parents don’t mind leaving those challenges to someone else.

Spending time with children is exhausting, hard work, and this is why I give my utmost respect to people who take care of kids; they are performing a huge service for everyone else. And along with that, I absolutely do not understand why teachers are so vilified these days. Perhaps it is because so many people are detached from the experience of dealing directly with children themselves, for hours and days and weeks and months and years on end, and thus have never developed any sense of empathy for those who do. To them, the experience is all abstract.

For a time I had a turn at being a part-time preschool teacher. The opportunity presented itself when I joined a preschool which was a parent cooperative. This was when my younger daughter was just over two years old. Like most families who went there, we grew to love Peter Pan and I often reflect on that wonderful time.

If I had my way, I would make sure every single child had this type of experience when they were young. And as for young parents, there is no better introduction to reality-based childrearing than to spend a few years, supported by an experienced expert, helping a range of little kids learn to navigate as newcomers in this complex social world.

Peter Pan has been a play-based preschool in Oakland since 1947. As a cooperative, each parent is required to work at the school one morning per week, as well as to perform one other duty such as keeping an area tidy and clean, serving on the board, maintaining equipment, etc.

The main portion of our (comparatively inexpensive) tuition covered the salary of our Director. She was an experienced, early education specialist who would float from zone to zone handling the most difficult problems which came up, and modeling her patient, kind behavior for the rest of us.

During our work mornings, we oversaw and interacted with the kids who would wander into our assigned area. At the end of the school day the director always debriefed us as a group; we would we talk about the various things that had gone on that day, mostly re the kids and their behavior. As a parent, this was a fantastic learning experience.

The typical Peter Pan day looked like this.

The little kids (ranging from potty-trained two-year olds to young five-year olds) would arrive, deposit their jackets and lunchboxes in their cubbies, and then go off to play. The site was divided into different areas: a reading nook, an area with live animals (two guinea pigs, an aquarium, etc.), an arts and crafts table, a big room with building blocks, cars, dress-up, and animal toys, and an outside play area. The morning session consisted of a four phases: kids at liberty to roam from zone to zone, an on-the-rug story and music group session led by the Director, snack time, then mandatory outside play. Nothing is more perfect for a kid this age.

I heard a radio documentary about the Perry Preschool Study last weekend, and was brought back to those Peter Pan years. This page will give you access to hearing the broadcast or the transcript. Please take time to listen or read, all the way to the end where you will learn how the findings of the Perry Study tie in with test scores.

Some excerpts are below.

In the days we attended Peter Pan, it was primarily used by white, middle-class families, even though it was located in central East Oakland, an area of town with a more diverse population. The explanation for why so few non-white families were interested in the school, was, according to an African American neighbor, because “It’s not strict enough.” I wouldn’t be surprised if a study proved that being forced to attend one of the stricter, more academic, non-play-oriented preschools (which sometimes have graduation ceremonies complete with little caps and gowns), actually contributes to creating an early negative association with school.

As the research in the Perry Study will eventually demonstrate, play-oriented, rich environments are the ones which lead to the development of important non-cognitive skills needed for making future decisions which create a more successful life.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

From “Early Lessons” by Emily Hanford, an American RadioWorks documentary, October 2009

And by the time the study participants were 40 years old there were big differences between the two groups. The people who'd gone to preschool were doing much better - in life. They were more likely to be employed; they made more money. They were more likely to own homes, cars, to have savings accounts. The men who'd gone to preschool were more involved in raising their children. And the biggest difference of all had to do with crime. The people who had not gone to preschool were twice as likely to have been arrested by the age of 40…

But, here's something interesting about the people who went to the Perry Preschool. Even the ones who did not graduate from high school ended up doing better in life. They did not get more education - but they were still better off. Why was that?...

Jim Heckman is probably one of the world's most influential economists. He won a Nobel Prize. And he's really interested in the Perry Study because of what he sees as the fundamental paradox at its core. The people who went to the preschool were not smarter than their peers, but they did better in school. And they did not necessarily get more education, but they did better in life. And the assumption at the heart of a lot of economic theory is that intelligence and education level are the keys to everything.

… And here's what Heckman's learning.

Heckman: There are traits that seem to be somewhat different from just the raw ability to solve a problem.

Personality traits like...

Heckman: Perseverance, self-control, things like openness, agreeableness, extroversion ...

Heckman calls these non-cognitive skills. They're less a set of skills than a collection of traits and abilities that are not about how much you know or how fast you think. Heckman says we used to think of these traits as part of a person's character - sort of an old-fashioned notion that didn't get a lot of attention in economic theory. But a growing body of evidence from psychology suggests the development of cognitive ability itself is associated with personality traits, defined by psychologists as "patterns of thought, feelings and behavior."

Heckman: What we're coming to learn is that traits of young children like openness to experience, lack of shyness, some agreeableness even, will make the child much more ready to explore the environment. The act of exploration builds skills; it creates mental capacities, it gives you facts.

It's a dynamic process; the desire to learn, the drive, can't really be separated from learning itself, the process of becoming capable and intelligent. So if a child is discouraged from learning early in life, that can actually shut down the learning process. On the other hand, success in learning early on makes people want to learn more. The more they want to learn, the more they end up learning. Motivation is key.

Heckman: Now you're getting into something really deep. How is it that motivation is affected? What causes motivation? And that's something that I think we still don't really understand but I think what I do think we've found from these early interventions is they have affected the motivations of the children.

And here's the kicker. Motivation really matters when it comes to testing. The very tests that purport to measure how smart you are, or how much you know - these tests are time consuming, and hard. You need a reason to do well. Incentives make a difference...

...IQ remains a deeply divisive issue partly because people with high IQ scores typically do better in all kinds of ways. They get more education, they make more money. But what do IQ tests really measure? Heckman says one of the things they measure is motivation. How much effort are you willing to give? And so it raises the question: do people do well in life because they have high IQs? Or is the thing that helps you do well on an IQ test the same thing that helps you do well in life? Heckman thinks what matters more is motivation, perseverance, attitude; the "soft" stuff that he says schools tend to ignore these days because they're so focused on raising test scores.

Heckman: No Child Left Behind, the whole emphasis on cognitive skill testing is insane. I mean, it's really misdirected.

"Get It While The Gettin’s Good"