Staffing Recommendations from SFRC
The story of Gabby is being told across the state. Gabby is a sweet and smart girl who has aspirations of helping others. Unfortunately, Gabby has not consistently had one caring, certified teacher all year as you can see her schedule to the right. Muskegon Heights has a unique partnership to help with teacher attraction and retention as featured on WZZM or at the bottom of web page.
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What are the staffing recommendations for your school?
Let's look at an example of a local school with over 300 students who the majority are in poverty (a.k.a. "at-risk"), over 20% are English Learners, and 9% are students with disabilities.
SFRC uses research around these factors to calculate the recommended number of certified teachers needed to teach students, intervene with struggling learners, and coach teachers to improve student learning in their classroom. SFRC also recommends para-professional support and pupil support services needed based on research.
SFRC uses research around these factors to calculate the recommended number of certified teachers needed to teach students, intervene with struggling learners, and coach teachers to improve student learning in their classroom. SFRC also recommends para-professional support and pupil support services needed based on research.
Sunil Joy, at Kent ISD, has used the staffing calculations from SFRC and the statewide REP Report to generate the following staffing report for this sample school. Based on the recommendations of research, this school has nearly 20 certified teachers (19.9) who teach courses, intervene with students, and/or coach teachers; however, research recommends 37 certified teachers should be in place to serve this at-risk population (as seen in the two dark blue bars in the upper left corner of the picture below). The blue bar below that reads -17.3 represents the gap between what the school has and what the research recommends. Read the directions on the first page of the tool and/or watch the video below to learn how to look up your own school or district based on the SFRC recommendations.
How Much might it Cost to Fund these Staffing Recommendations?
The SFRC report applies an equitable way to achieve adequate funding by establishing a base amount and additional funding for students in poverty, English Learners, Students with Disabilities, and districts that are geographically isolated. Following the release of the SFRC Report, MSU released another report by Dr. Arsen and others called the Michigan School Finance at the Crossroads. Below you will see two key data slides. The first graph shows how states have increased or decreased school funding from 1995-2015 through the lens of inflation. The second graph shows how the tax efforts in 2007 caused the dramatic drop to $18 billion, where SFRC claims $22 billion needed, and the graph estimates Michigan would have $24 billion based on pre-2007 tax efforts. Consider taking a moment to read the Arsen Report. In addition, Dr. Arsen also created an interactive map of MI districts with the % Change Real General Fund Revenue 2004-2018 (Note: impact of increasing and decreasing enrollment).