Partnerships in Support of Equity: How Urban Districts Leverage Budgets to Reduce the “Education Debt”

• In Event: Educational Resource Allocation for Recovery, Renewal, and Restoration

Abstract

Since the onset of COVID-19 in 2020, school districts across the country have had to quickly respond to student, educator, and community needs. The past several years has forced district administrators to lead through impactful events such as sudden school closures and re-openings, quickly designing and scaling differential learning modalities, and supporting innovation in teaching delivery models (Brock et al, 2021; Hosmer, 2022). Simultaneously, district administrators are leading schools that are more racially, socioeconomically, and linguistically diverse, requiring targeted support and interventions to respond to complex equity issues (Diem & Welton, 2000; Radd et al, 2021). This is in lieu of state legislatures moving away from supporting high-quality teaching and learning investments that advocate for anti-racism, liberation, and justice (Katz & Acquah, 2023).
Uncertainty around school funding has put districts in a precarious position. School districts are tasked with providing services and addressing many areas with limited resources. Current budget constraints, such as the sun-setting of ESSER funds, will limit districts’ capacity to provide the necessary educational services for students and maintain learning environments that were being supported through those funds. Furthermore, teacher retention and recruitment issues, staffing shortages, and increasing student absenteeism (Childs et al., 2023) have further complicated districts’ responsiveness to the myriad of challenges that schooling. Finally, the “education debt,” (Ladson-Billings, 2006)—or the multiple ways that children from historically disenfranchised backgrounds have been intentionally excluded from the educational system—has been further exacerbated through the loss of funding related to anti-DEI legislation (Russell-Brown, 2024).
In this multiple case study, we explore how four large, urban districts are responding to these varied budget constraints. Using an advocacy coalition framework (Jenkins-Smith et al., 2018) which focuses on how actors and organizations work together to solve complex education issues, we investigate how districts develop partnerships with invested external actors, leverage their current budgets to support equity-focused teaching, learning, and leadership development, and create systems that allow for sustainable practices. We analyze data collected between 2021-2024 that include individual interviews, observational field notes, and policy-relevant documents.
Preliminary findings indicate that these external partners include state education agencies, local universities, national and community-based organizations working in partnership to address budget complexities within the school district system(s). For example, a local university’s college of education created an equity institute designed to support their school district’s leaders' plan for implementing a responsive instructional plan that included increases in instructional resources and time related to culturally relevant teaching and curriculum. The findings also reveal a commitment to inclusivity and equity-focused learning environments, while also being creative in navigating fiscal uncertainties, while continuing to offer professional development, and instituting equity-focused teaching & learning strategies. These findings provide context for similar districts, and how districts could circumnavigate budget constraints while also building and strengthening external relationships in support of advancing equity goals and reducing the “education debt.”

Authors

• Joshua Childs, University of Texas at Austin

• Ain A. Grooms, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• April L. Peters-Hawkins, University of Houston

• Eligio Martinez, Cal Poly Pomona