Sources of Funding for Education Reform

Less than three years have elapsed since the release of A Nation at Risk and the accom­panying calls to improve U.S. public schools. Yet a number of state legislatures have already acted on the basic recommendations of that and oth­er, similar reports. Indeed, the educa­tion reform movement has moved faster than any public policy reform in modem history. All the states have expanded their school improvement programs; nearly all have increased high school graduation requirements; most have stiffened college admission require­ments; many are deepening the content of course offerings; and many are enact­ing a variety of policies to strengthen the teaching profession.

Moreover, signs in many states indi­cate that the reforms are being im­plemented as intended. A number of studies in California, for example, have shown that students are attending school longer; taking more and tougher aca­demic courses; receiving better counseling about their secondary school pro­grams and about college admission requirements; and scoring higher on achievement tests. Teachers are being paid more, and in some states they have new career ladder options. The swift­ness of action, the breadth of the reform programs, and the multiple indicators of progress in the right direction give rea­son for optimism about the ultimate suc­cess of the education reform movement.

This article was originally published in The Phi Delta Kappan by Phi Delta Kappa International and Journal Storage (JSTOR).