Every year, throughout the United States, children from age four to 21, began the new process of receiving a free and appropriate education. From August to September, depending on what state you live in, public schools open its doors to receive students who represent all demographic areas. While parents and students attempt to handle the financial concerns of purchasing clothes and supplies for the school year, a little stress is attached to how much the education they expect to receive will cost. Since 1965, through the legislative process, the federal, state, and local government assumed the responsibility for funding public schools (U.S. Department of Education, 2014). In an article completed by the Public Broadcasting System (Public Broadcasting System [PBS], 2008), the federal government allocates approximately ten cents to every dollar to education toward public education. The state and local governments supply the remaining money needed for public education to the 14,000 school districts throughout the United States who allocated the funds to the primary and secondary schools (PBS, 2008).
Public education is the largest area of expense for the state in local governments around the United States accounting for approximately one-fifth of its budget (Moore, 2011). For example, in 2014, the state of Florida spent a total of 77 billion dollars out of which 29.9 percent was allocated to school districts around the state (Office of Policy and Budget, 2014). To determine how the funds are divided among school districts requires complicated formulas based on some money states can collect from local property tax. The objective of this essay is to critique the formula used to determine the allocation of funds to public schools in the state of Florida, Broward County, Florida specifically. The paper will determine the negative and positive issues impacting the state's funding formula and determine if these problems can be improved.
Based on the Florida state constitution (1968) education is a priority that makes providing the resources needed to educate all children essentially. According to Article IX, Section 1 of the Florida Constitution, provisions provided to states should allow all students to receive the same quality education without regard to the location and economic status (Fla. art. IX, § 1.). To effective uphold the promise to given concerning education, the state of Florida developed the Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP) in 1973, and a state policy which was to provide equal funding for all school districts in the state (Florida Department of Education [FLDOE], 2015). According to the Florida Department of Education (2015) the formula create through the FEFP system determined the number of funds to be given to schools districts by looking at local property taxes, the cost of educational programs, local cost of living, student population, and the educational programs needed. The funds are provided to districts based on the full-time equivalent (FTE) or actual number of students enrolled in schools and the cost to deliver instruction to that students for a full academic school year (FLDOE, 2015). Twice an FTE count is required to determine the number of students at a particular school looking closely at the number of students in programs such as: exceptional student education (ESE) programs, basic education programs, limited English proficiency programs, and career education programs. According to the FLDOE (2015) each particular program is significant in determining the amount of money allocated to each school district from the local government. The following graph provided by the FLDOE is a better picture of how money is provided for each student based upon the FEFP formula:

The formula shows how the weighted student numbers are multiplied by the base student allocation that is determined by the Florida lawmakers and base FEFP determined by the state and local government (Florida Department of Education [FLDOE], 2015). While the formula used to determine the amount of FEFP funds each school district should allocate to local public schools appear to be fair in allocating funds equally, growing concerns about the fairness of the system raises questions about the effectiveness of the system. A study by Jeremy Moore (2011) questions the fairness of local governments in providing funding to schools in lower-income areas. Moore determines there are several reasons the formula used in Florida is unfair to school in low-income areas but the main reason is connected to the way in which the FEFP is funded. Since the FEFP is funded by local property taxes, the schools located in more affluent locations are provided with more funds because those locations collect a larger amount of property taxes (Moore, 2011). An investigative report by Noah Pransky (Pransky, 2014) uses the frustration the school superintendent in Hernando County, Florida and school leaders who believe the FEFP system is outdated and should be revised like other states to provide measure to close the gap between the amounts of monies provided to schools is richer locations in comparison to poorer schools. For example, Monroe County, Florida is the state of Florida’s richest district receives 14,185 per students while Clay County only receive 8,015 per student due to the amount of collected in property taxes each year (Pransky, 2014). Another problem critics have with the FEFP formula is the involvement of Florida lawmakers in determining the number of funds to be allocated per student. A part of the formula used to determine the amount of money allocated to a school district is the base amount given to each student by lawmakers. 2014, governor race in Florida highlighted the concerns of district leaders when it comes to politicians determining how much money should be allocated to students. Amy Sherman, (Sherman, 2014) highlighted the bias of politicians toward agendas outside of education that often cause politicians to cut funds for education. Sherman proved the claims of Florida Democrats that the Republican-dominated state house cut funds in education to provide tax breaks for major corporations (Sherman, 2014). The position of Sherman concerning Florida politician is echoed by in Pransky’s report who adds the most powerful lawmakers often tweak the formula in the favor of the district they represent while lawmakers with less influence often loss out (Pransky, 2014). The most significant change in the formula used to determine school funding came in with the introduction 2002 No Child Left Behind Policy (NCLB). NCLB was legislation passed by Congress in 2002 aim at providing all children an equal opportunity in earning acquiring a quality education. The government pushed by the outcry of influential educational reformers created a system that monitored and rewarded schools based upon student performance on a state-mandated test. While the intentions of the NCLB system was good, the impact of public schools in Florida was tremendous. NCLB allowed students in schools considered failing schools to relocate to better schools through voucher programs. The government began to provide monies normally allocated to traditional schools to charter schools who were created by private companies under less government scrutiny. The creation of charter schools in local school districts who compete with public schools for the same students often leads to a decrease in funding due to the school FTE count. In many cases public schools are cheated out of monies per student because the FTE count in Florida is taken in by the first of October which does not explicitly determine if a student receives an adequate education by a school for an entire academic year. Charter schools are permitted to release students who are considered problem students after the FTE count is taken but still receive the funds for teaching students even when public schools handle the education. The impact of student test scores does not only impact the school itself but also the neighborhood the school is located. Research by Donald Haurin (Haurin, 2013) student test performance had a direct impact on community property values. Haurin included that an increase of about twenty points on state test could increase housing values by approximately seven percent. While a decrease in scores could also decrease property values as well. The importance of school scores is also considered when residents are looking for new locations to live being that most websites were dealing with housing also list the state test performance of schools with the house being researched. If the FTEP system was designed to provide all students with an equal opportunity at a fair education, then there is concern about its definition of fair. As an educator in Broward County, Florida I see the impact of poor funding due to the NCLB influence in the formula. Silver Lakes Middle School in North Lauderdale, Florida is located in a poor neighborhood with a high transient population. Over the last five years, three recently built charter schools has decreased the student population by 120 causing the school to cut the amount of teachers needed to educate students properly. The school has also had to cut programs that are available to students the more affluent middle schools just west of SLMS. The school has cut band, chorus, debate, and art that are programs needed to help in academic performance. Silver Lakes Middle School has also struggled to find corporate sponsors willing to work with their student population that is another thing more affluent schools are provided. Corporate sponsors provide schools with extra funding for school events and student enrichment opportunities. As I am a teacher I see a program that is unfair to students in lower income areas because what is available for richer schools is not available for all.

References
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Florida Department of Education. (2015). 2014-2015 Funding for florida school districts. Retrieved from http://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/5423/urlt/Fefpdist.pdf
Florida Department of Education. (2015). Florida education finance program fefp. Retrieved from http://basiceducationfundingcommission.pasenategop.com/files/2014/10/2010-11-Florida-Education-Finance-Program-FEFP.3.pdf
Moore, J. A. (2011). Poverty and student achievement: the application of compensatory practices to education funding in the state of florida. Dissertations Abstracts International: Section B. Sciences and Engineering, 1, 1-150.
Office of Policy and Budget. (2014). Policy and budget recommendations. Retrieved from http://www.flitsyourmoney.com/content/current/reports/Budget-Presentation-FY-16.pdf
Pransky, N. (2014, May 15, 2014). Critics: many fl school districts underfunded [Television News]. 10 News CBS. Retrieved from http://www.wtsp.com/story/news/investigations/2014/05/15/florida-school-funding-district-inequities/9134319/
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Sherman, A. (2014). Rick scott cut education to pay for tax break, democratic ad says. Retrieved from http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2014/jul/07/florida-democratic-party/rick-scott-cut-education-pay-tax-breaks-democratic/
U.S. Const. art. IX, § 1.
U.S. Department of Education. (2014). 10 facts about k-12 education funding. Retrieved from www2.ed.gov/about/overview/fed/10facts/index.html?exp