Courting Failure examines the issues involved in school funding adequacy in light of recent court cases and shows that judicial actions regarding school finance—related to either equity or adequacy—have not had a beneficial effect on student performance. The expert contributors explain why low achievement is not inevitable for disadvantaged students and why school resources are not the dominant factor in whether students “beat the odds.” They show that cost studies on the price of an adequate education turn out to be more politics than science. And they tell how many districts often do not spend the funds they have in the manner need.

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• Contents (0817947817_v.pdf ~33 KB)
• Contributors (0817947817_vii.pdf ~49 KB)
• Introduction (0817947817_xiii.pdf ~89 KB)
• 1. Campaign for Fiscal Equity v. New York: The March of Folly (0817947817_1.pdf ~119 KB)
• 2. The Legal Backdrop to Adequacy (0817947817_33.pdf ~166 KB)
• 3. High-Poverty, High-Performance Schools, Districts, and States (0817947817_79.pdf ~382 KB)
• 4. High-Spending, Low-Performing School Districts (0817947817_103.pdf ~3188 KB)
• 5. Thorough and Efficient Private and Public Schools (0817947817_195.pdf ~143 KB)
• 6. How Can Anyone Say What’s Adequate If Nobody Knows How Money Is Spent Now? (0817947817_235.pdf ~720 KB)
• 7. Science Violated: Spending Projections and the “Costing Out” of an Adequate Education (0817947817_257.pdf ~1226 KB)
• 8. Adequacy beyond Dollars: The Productive Use of School Time (0817947817_313.pdf ~774 KB)
• 9. Funding for Performance (0817947817_329.pdf ~106 KB)
• Index (0817947817_357.pdf ~60 KB)