A Conversation on “SBB” School Funding in Hartford – Cities, Suburbs & Schools Project at Trinity College

The Hartford Public Schools uses a very unusual funding system called “student-based budgeting” (SBB). In other districts across the country, they use the term “weighted student funding” (WSF) rather than SBB.

Many Black and Latino majority school districts are moving towards this funding scheme and with scant evidence that “SBB/WSF” improves overall resources, equity, or educational outcomes. Based on my experience here in Hartford, CT, I have my doubts on this “voucher-like” funding system.

The New Haven Public Schools want to move to a similar school funding system as Hartford and other cities across the country. In this video interview, I sit down with Chris Willems and Jill Kelly to discuss my experience and concerns with student-based budgeting in Hartford so they can learn how it might work (or not) in New Haven. I also propose some criteria for a fairer funding system. Below there are links to SBB and WSF in Hartford, New Haven, and elsewhere.

Here are a few quotes from the interview:

Under this model, “many of the principals find that they don’t have enough money for all of the things that they used to be able to provide.”
“More than anything else, weighting student funding and the school-based budgeting provide kind of the illusion of equity.”
“We have to ask the question: why is it that the Black and Latino, and relatively poorer school districts, are being asked to do these really unproven and somewhat exotic reforms in terms of school funding, rather than saying that we should be getting the funding from the state and the local, and the federal government as well, to provide the sorts of educational opportunities that are available in the suburbs?”

Resources on “SBB/WSF” Funding

“Student-based Budgeting” in Hartford:

Guide to Student-Based Budgeting

“Weighted Student Funding” in New Haven:

Ed Board Seeks Change to School Funding, Aliyya Swabby.

SBB and WSF in Other Cities:

Within-district resource allocation and the marginal costs of providing equal educational opportunity: evidence from Texas and Ohio., Bruce D. Baker.

Jill Kelly: Arguments Against WSF

Other articles on SBB:

Student-Based Budgeting (SBB) as an Education Reform Strategy: Theory and Evidence

Designing and Implementing Student-Based Budgeting in a Resource-Strapped Context

The Impact of Student-Based Budgeting (SBB) Resource Allocations at theSite-Level

Assessing the Viability of Student-Based Budgeting (SBB) inResource-Strapped, Rule-Bound Contexts

Published by

Robert Cotto Jr.

Robert Cotto, Jr. is a Lecturer in the Educational Studies department. Before his work at Trinity, he was a Senior Policy Fellow in K-12 Education for CT Voices for Children where he published reports on Connecticut’s testing system, public school choice, and K-12 education data and policy. He taught for seven years as a social studies teacher at the Metropolitan Learning Center for Global and International Studies (MLC), an interdistrict magnet school intended to provide a high-quality education and promote racial, ethnic, and economic integration. Born and raised in Connecticut, Mr. Cotto was the first in his family to go to college and he earned his B.A. degree in sociology at Dartmouth College, his Ed.M. at Harvard University Graduate School of Education, and an M.A. in American Studies at Trinity College. He is currently completing his Ph.D. in education policy at the University of Connecticut Neag School of Education. Robert lives with his wife and son in the Forster Heights area of the Southwest neighborhood in Hartford. Views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Trinity College. View all posts by Robert Cotto Jr.

One thought on “A Conversation on “SBB” School Funding in Hartford”

Oh, my, you definitely caught my attention with your question as to why only our low-income, high-minority schools are asked to try (experiment with) “new” ideas for school funding. This very same game is played out over and over with the unproven test-score “reforms” forced repeatedly onto our poorest schools in the name of test-score accountability. Our students and their teachers are then blamed when innovative experiment after innovative experiment splutters, falters, and ultimately falls apart. (ciedieaech.wordpress.com: Guinea Pig Kids)

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