The Funding of Public Education in Chicago

Professor Robert J. Lemke
Department of Economics and Business
Lake Forest College
Fall 2006

Contact Information:

Office: 315 Young Hall
Phone: 847-735-5143
E-mail: lemke@lakeforest.edu
Webpage: http://campus.lakeforest.edu/~lemke/
Class Webpage: http://campus.lakeforest.edu/~lemke/fiys126/index.html

Description

FIYS 126: The Funding of Public Education in Chicago

The funding of public education is a leading civil rights issue in the United States. At issue is not only school quality and whether all students have equal access to educational opportunities, but also how schools are funded and regulated. In order to fully study the current debate concerning public education in the context of civil rights, we will discuss the social arguments in favor of education, come to understand current ideas concerning education reform (including charter schools, vouchers, and teacher certification), and investigate the revenue (taxation) and expenditure side of public education.

We will begin by reading historical and philosophical writings on the need for and benefit of public education, including the writings of Dewey, Locke, and Woolf. We will then turn attention to current ideas concerning education reform such as charter schools and requiring high-stakes testing of all students. This will require us to study the principles, objectives, and financing of No Child Left Behind, as well as to read various and contradictory opinions concerning present-day strategies for reform. We will also use data to help reach our own conclusions regarding the funding of public schools. In particular, we will use nationwide as well as Illinois data to observe how spending differs across districts and how states like Illinois attempt to redistribute monies from rich to poor districts. Finally, we will observe public schools in action. In particular, we will compare the education environment in schools with varying degrees of economic resources.

Objectives and Expectations

I have several objectives concerning the material and expectations concerning your work and participation in this class.

Class Lectures

Days: Tuesdays and Thursdays
Time: 8:00 - 9:20
Place: Young Hall 510.

Office Hours

Officially, my office hours are from 11:00 to 1:00 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and by appointment. Unofficially, you are encouraged to stop by my office anytime. The best way to contact me is by e-mail at lemke@lakeforest.edu. You can also phone my office (847-735-5143) or my home (847-457-3219).

Required Reading

Unless noted, all required items are in the Lake Forest College Bookstore. Feel free to purchase them anywhere, but be sure to buy the same edition.

Further Reading

The following items are optional and are not available in the Lake Forest College Bookstore. When possible, a link has been provided to a web resource.

Other Materials

Summer Assignments

  1. Before our first class meeting (12:30 - 1:20, 510 Young Hall, Sunday, August 20), read Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood, Little Men, and, if you have never read it, Little Women.

  2. Chicago Public Radio aired a 23-part series on education in Chicago. The website is: http://www.wbez.org/programs/specials/chicagomatters/cm06_education/cm06_audio.asp. Please listen to the episodes that aired on April 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, 27, 28 and on May 3, 4, 15, 18.

  3. Type a one-page (max) response to the following claim: Chicago Public Schools should equalize per pupil spending across each of its almost 600 schools. Please email this to me by August 14. It will not be graded, but I would like to have a sample of your writing (and thinking) before the semester officially begins.

Grading Policy

Your grade will depend on four personal papers (16%), two summary papers (24%), one policy report and presentation (25%), a midterm exam (15%), and a final exam (20%). The relationship between your weighted score and your grade for the class will be no more stringent than:

A90-100
B80-90
C70-80
D60-70
The Writing Center: This is a writing intensive course. In order to help you with your writing assignments, I ask that you show a draft of each paper you write to the Writing Center (located in the library) before handing it in to me. Thus, you should schedule an appointment with the Writing Center at least 48 hours before each paper is due in order to give yourself tiem to incorporate their suggestions.

Exams

The midterm will take place during class on October 12. If you miss the midterm due to sickness, you must contact me immediately to reschedule the exam. If you will be away from campus on the 12th for a College-sanctioned event, you should see me at least by October 5th to schedule a time to take the exam. The final will be from 8:30 to 11:30 on Wednesday, December 13.

Personal Papers

You will write 4 one-page papers on your own educational experience. Use one-inch margins, double spacing, and 11 point Times Roman font for the first two papers. Style details are left to you on the last two papers.

  1. College Choice: Write a one-page description of why you chose Lake Forest College. In saying why you chose Lake Forest College, you should mention the other colleges you were considering, what characteristics of colleges were important to you, and how you ended up choosing Lake Forest College over the others. Due: August 31.

  2. High School Experience: Write a one-page description of some way in which your high school education could have been improved. Be specific and include funding and enforcement provisions if applicable. That is, what resources would have been needed to make the improvement, and who (e.g., a government -- federal, state, or local; a person -- an administrator, teacher, parent, or student; etc.) should have implemented this policy and been responsible to make sure it was improving your education. Due: September 7.

  3. Letter of Recommendation: Think ahead three years. You are a senior at Lake Forest College who is applying to graduate school. Acting as a professor at Lake Forest College, write a letter of recommendation on your behalf for admittance to graduate school. Due: September 14.

  4. Letter to the Editor: Write a one-page letter to the editor of the Stentor on any academic issue facing Lake Forest College that is important to you. (We will not be submitting them to the Stentor, unless you choose to do so on your own.) Due: September 21.

Summary Papers

Each summary paper should be three to five pages with one-inch margins, double spaced, and 12 point Times Roman font. Be sure to include a title, and center your page numbers at the bottom of each page. Include references, which can extend to a sixth page.

  1. Philosophy of Education: Write a paper expressing your philosophy of education. When appropriate, refer to the ideas of De Tocquiville, Dewey, Locke, Mill, Plato, Woolf, or others. You can also appeal to your own experiences and background. Much of your grade will be determined by the consistency with which you make your arguments. Due: October 5

  2. Book Review: Write a New York Times-type book review of a non-required book on education. You must tell me which book you plan on reading and reviewing by October 12. In liew of a book review, you can read an academic journal ariticle, and write a referee report on the article. (Referee reports tend to be more argumentative and detail oriented in nature.) Due: November 2.

Policy Report

Write a 15 to 25 page policy report on any current policy relating to public education. For example, you might write on any part of No Child Left Behid, the ISAT, high-stakes testing, the current system for funding public schools, Title IX funding, busing, or teacher certification. Write about something you are interested in. Refer to the literature, laws, or government programs/policies whenever possible. This paper will require research/reading in addition to what has been assigned in class. One place to start is with the resources listed under "Other Materials". You might also refer to your own experiences in schools and to your observation of schools in Chicago, Evanston, Lake Forest, and Waukegan.

The purpose of the report is to inform readers of the current status of some education issue. The report should highlight problems or shortcomings of the current system (or defend the current system against common attacks). Possible solutions or at least possible adjustments to the current system should be proposed and defended. Each student will present his or her report to the class in a 30 minute PowerPoint presentation after Thanksgiving. A rubric for grading policy reports will be available on November 2. The report should have the same style as the Summary Papers. Include an unnumbered title page. The report must use quantitative data and contain some tables and/or graphs displaying the data. Include all tables and graphs at the end of the report. Number tables and graphs sequentially, and include a title for each. Your grade will be determined in large part by how well you explain the issue at hand, interpret and present statistical evidence, and argue for a policy remedy. Due: Tuesday, November 28.

Extra Credit: Reading Quizzes

Short quizzes will be given on the required reading at the start of most class. Your performance on these quizzes will be applied to your overall weighted score, increasing it by up to five percentage points.

Extra Credit: Vocabulary List

On Tuesday, November 21, you can turn in a list of 25 words from the assigned readings that were new to you. In addition to the word, you must provide a dictionary definition and the sentence from which you got the word. A sample of vocabulary words will be given to you. Turning in an accurate vocabulary list will increase your overall weighted score by up to five percentage points.

Class Schedule

Weekly Reading Assignments:
Sun., Aug. 20(1) Alcott, (2) Zailckas, (3) Brown v. Board of Education, (4) Wheelan.
Thurs., Aug. 29(1) Locke, (2) Strunk and White.
Tues., Sept. 5Dewey.
Tues., Sept. 12(1) Wolff, (2) Friedman.
Tues., Sept. 19Hess and Petrilli.
Tues., Sept. 26Kohn.
Tues., Oct. 17(1) Bracey, (2) Hess.
Tues., Oct. 24Betts and Loveless
Due Dates:
Thurs., Aug. 31College Choice.
Thurs., Sept. 7High School Experience.
Thurs., Sept. 14Letter of Recommendation.
Thurs., Sept. 21Letter to the Editor.
Thurs., Oct. 5Philosophy of Education.
Thurs., Oct. 12Midterm.
Thurs., Nov. 2Book Review.
Tues., Nov. 14Mini-presentations of policy reports.
Tues, Nov. 21Vocabulary List
Tues., Nov. 28Policy Report. First day of presentations.
Thurs., Nov. 30Presentations continue.
Tues., Dec. 5Presentations continue.
Wed., Dec. 13Final Exam: 8:30 - 11:30.
Travel Dates:
Tues., Aug. 22Newberry Library.
Sat., Sept. 30Chicago schools.
Sat., Oct. 21Evanston or Waukegan schools.