Transformative Justice Funding Models

• In Event: Beyond Schools: Rethinking Policies for Justice and Equitable Education Systems

Abstract

Objective: This chapter critiques school finance policy through different concepts of (in)justice to make the case for a transformative justice in school finance. We articulate that school finance was primarily rooted in racial injustice pre-civil rights and is rooted in what we call “remedial distributive justice” post Serrano. We argue that school finance policies would be more just and effective if they went beyond a remedial distribution justice approach (coined in this chapter) towards a transformative approach.


Theoretical Framework:

A transformative justice paradigm in school finance requires a fundamental rethinking of how we fund public schools at the federal, state and district levels to serve the most vulnerable populations. We propose that transformative justice is a combination of structural justice+ asset-based distributive justice+dignitary justice + procedural justice. Achieving transformative justice in school finance policy requires a holistic, ecological approach that integrates radical changes to the manner in which state, local and federal policy are used to distribute revenues and resources to schools. Bishop and Noguera (2019) frame educational equity focusing on systems design, out of school factors, practices and resources to serve a diverse community context of race, class, culture and language.

Methods & Data Sources
To be clear, we do not believe or suggest that we have achieved a transformative model yet. However, there are a few promising case studies that we feel have the potential to provide some insight in how we might be able to move towards a transformative model. We provide one promising case study at the federal, state and local level.

Results

The U.S. school finance system built upon a racist and white supremist foundation that promoted racial injustice (Jimenez-Castellanos, Kelly & Carranza, 2021; Margo, 1990). Though the last fifty years has seen improvements to the historically overtly racist and classist school finance systems in the United States, in this chapter we outlined the many ways that society’s broader injustices remain reflected in states’ approaches to school funding. We argue that the remedial distributive framework used in the most recent wave of adequacy-based school finance reforms does not go far enough to engage with notions of justice that are required for transformational change. Despite the proliferation of adequacy litigation, vast disparities in funding between and among states persist and merely a third of states currently allocate funding so that high-poverty districts receive even a small boost in funding over low-poverty districts (Farrie & Sciarra, 2021). There is no shortage of research finding significant disparities in students’ access to the resources they need to succeed (Carter & Welner, 2013; Jimenez-Castellanos, 2010).
As our case studies demonstrate, schools and communities already possess much of the knowledge that is needed to radically transform our school systems to meet the diverse and ever-changing needs of students and staff. What is needed now is the political will and financial investment to put these plans into action.

Scholarly Significance

We offer a new transformational justice paradigm that requires the synthesis of structural justice, asset-based distributive justice, dignitary justice and procedural justice through an ecological framework that integrates local, state and federal policy. This approach will require policymakers at all levels to, for example, seek meaningful engagement from communities and value the input of diverse stakeholders, redefine success beyond the traditional metrics such as standardized assessments, and integrate culturally relevant curricula. Crucially, this also entails determining and then providing a sufficient level of resources that will allow schools and districts to meet these goals.

Author

• Oscar Jimenez-Castellanos, Santa Clara University