Student art and school funding

I must admit that it didn’t jump to the top of my task list when Marie Hanna of Ohio Connections Academy emailed me to say:

“I realize that policy and data are more in your wheelhouse but I thought you might enjoy the art show that was created by our students.”

It probably should have though.

Wow. When I clicked through the link in her email, I expected to spend two minutes glancing at a few pieces of student art. Instead, I spent at least twenty minutes being amazed at what these students had put together and at the fantastic online gallery. In a subsequent email she told me that the school’s art teachers came up with the idea of an in-person art show in 2020 but had to pivot to online.

As good as the art is, the online show probably doesn’t warrant a blog post. But there’s a funding implication that is worth delving into.

Online learning critics and some policymakers say “online learning doesn’t need to be funded at the same level as traditional schools because …there’s no building…there’s no lunch…there’s no <fill in the blank with some physical object or onsite task>.”

These views lead to endless debates about “adequate” levels of funding.

But in those “adequacy studies” did they ever ask, “how much does the online art show cost?”

Probably not.

And what about the next thing that nobody has thought of yet?

As we shift to a world where more students and families are choosing more and different options, why do critics underfund some of those options and then complain about outcomes?

Why not instead fund students at the same levels regardless of instructional modality and watch what new schools can do?

This is especially true post-pandemic as some funding cuts and proposals, which previously targeted mostly online charter schools, are now in some cases targeting district programs. A related issue is how students are funded and what schools must do to fulfill funding requirements. In some instances, funding levels may appear within education code to be similar, but in practice they are actually different. In other cases, states are proposing changes that would force schools to modify their instructional practices to receive funding, instead of being able to focus on what they believe is best for each individual student.

There’s much more to say on this topic. The DLC is putting the finishing touches on a report on this subject, which will be released this summer.