The alignment of the funding strategies with the policies which guide the agenda is critical. For example, if one of the policies states that "relevant, student-centered, ongoing professional development is essential to successful integration of technology and telecommunications in K-12 schools," but no funds are allocated for professional development (and it is not addressed through other avenues), the state's investment in technical infrastructure will not return learning dividends. The determination of how public funds will be invested has strong political implications. Such investments have various forces and pressures at work, at times at odds with one another. As states begin to develop priorities for funding the following issues should be considered:
I. State and Regional Leadership, Capacity-building, Planning and Infrastructure
Questions for Consideration:
What is the status of connectivity for elementary and secondary schools? Should resources be deployed at the state level for a state backbone? Would it be more cost effective to partner with other educational, library or public entities? Should resources be allocated to support personnel at the state level for the advocacy, leadership, capacity building and accountability necessary if the state is to take full advantage of opportunities to advance accelerate their policy agenda in learning technologies? What resources and leadership are necessary to build a professional development initiative which will ensure that the state investment in technology is being fully utilized in classrooms? What resources should be invested in state and regionalinstructional, curricular and technical support system is necessary to fully deploy, implement, maintain and constantly improve school use of technology in schools? Could an existing entity or entities meet this need?
II. District and School Building Allocations
Questions for Consideration:
Is the priority on equity or impact on learning? While there is public support for equitable access to resources, past practice in education technology has shown that the largest gains come from focusing limited funds on specific intervention, rather than allocating small appropriations across larger populations.
How should the funds be allocated to districts? The question focuses on two issues, how should the funds be allocated, and which districts will be funded first. The options for an allocation formula are many including multiple combinations of: per pupil allocation, per building allocation, per district allocation, competitive grants.
Determining priority for receipt of funds through an agreed upon forumula also has multiple options. For example, some states focus their dollars by funding on a multi-year cyclical basis,eventually reaching all districts in the state, albeit at different levels depending on relative wealth. This achieves depth of intervention and equity over the long-term.
In others the allocations are more evenly distributed to all school districts in the state, but targeted at a specific grade level, a specific academic area, a skill area (e.g., information literacy),or a particular target population (e.g., children/youth in poverty).In still other states the funds are targeted toward demonstration districts, buildings or classrooms through competitive grants.
III. Partnerships, Collaboration
It will be critical that the K-12 community consider partnerships with institutions of higher education, community colleges, public libraries, regional offices of education and other state agencies as they launch technology and telecommunications infrastructures, technical support structures, community-based planning efforts and professional development initiatives.
IV. Sustainability and Accountability
A fundamental question in allocating public funds is the type of accountability necessary to track a return on state investment of resources in ways which the appropriating body intended. On the one hand, the public would like to see school districts make decisions for local communities, while that same public expects that the state will submit a single report back to the legislature on the deliverables met through the state investment.
