A district’s responsibility to their students and communities is not limited to spending dollars effectively or efficiently—they must also be spent equitably.
WHY DOES RESOURCE EQUITY MATTER?
Understanding how your money flows is the first step toward resource equity, but this can be cumbersome and confusing without the right tools.
Compare "what if" scenarios
With Allovue, districts can compare alternative “what if?” scenarios (with different enrollments or class size ratios, for example) and understand the effect on the way dollars flow to schools.
Steer funding to student groups
Whether your allocation model is driven by staff assignments or student groups, you can distribute resources equitably with careful consideration for how student needs are embedded into the formula with Allovue.
Explain school-level funding
With funding formula calculation breakdowns and easy-to-read summaries, Allovue’s turnkey reports help your district and wider community make sense of why schools get different levels of funding.
Model and compare different funding formulas in seconds.
Whether you distribute dollars using a staffing model, student-based budgeting, or anything in between—modeling even minor changes can mean days of work. One partner reported that Allocate took their funding model prep from 3 weeks to 3 hours.
If student populations or enrollments are in flux, being able to quickly model the differences between scenarios is key to making data-driven decisions. With the ability to create an infinite number of enrollment projections and models for side-by-side comparison, Allocate makes distilling and communicating the nuance of different paths forward a breeze.
Make sure the right resources are reaching your students.
Every student is different and requires different resources to educate—this process starts at the district-level when dollars are allocated to schools. Allocate allows districts to make student-based, data-driven decisions on how dollars should flow.
After allocations are made and budget planning begins, communicating how principals and budget managers plan to utilize dollars to increase student outcomes is critical. With a budgeting tool that can support either “bucket” budgeting or line item granularity, dollars can be stewarded clearly and effectively.
The journey toward resource equity is just as much about identifying what’s working as it is about identifying what’s not working. When a particular school or program performs well, digging into the data can illuminate initiatives that should be recreated elsewhere in the district.
Whether you are considering lowering class sizes, closing or opening a school, or staffing a new program or initiative, calculating the cost is often an arduous process and can stall strategic conversations at key moments. With the ability to model changes instantly, questions about cost can be answered as they arise—keeping strategic work on track.
How does a district define equity? What rules should dollars follow to uphold that definition? We invited education finance experts to take on a fictional K-12 district and wrestle with these questions. Download the eBook to see three example K-12 resource allocation models, reflections on building equitable formulas and practical advice for district leaders.
