Money Matters

Finding Funding That Fits

By Jill R. Oppenheim

Taking a break from my standard column with many links to resources, I wanted to focus in this issue on what accountability means in terms of funding. When people consider accountability and funding, their first thought tends to be about using the money received as intended and avoiding problems when audit time comes. While this is very important, it isn't the final word on accountability and funding.

At any given time there are many funding opportunities for which schools and districts may apply. If a person were to apply for every opportunity available at any given time, she would have little time to do anything else, and probably wouldn't be too successful because she would be pulled in too many directions at once. Like every other important piece of the educational pie, funding requires careful thought. Planning, a huge part of which results in authentic accountability, must guide the grants development and funding research processes.

It is important to appropriately use any money received, but another aspect of this in regard to accountability is making the best use of the resources. A good funding plan not only takes into account what future grants you might seek, but also examines existing sources of funding and ensures that formula funds (funds that are not competitively sought via grant competitions) are used wisely. Through this examination of existing funds and their use, it becomes easier to see where the gaps are and where more money is needed to support existing goals and priorities. Also, this process might spark ideas on how existing funds can be used more creatively and efficiently (though always appropriately) than they might have been in the past.

A good funding plan should ensure that you don't jump at every opportunity that crosses your path. It guides you in making the appropriate choices and should provide results where the funding directly addresses the goals, objectives, and priorities that have been determined at every level. It ensures that your available personnel, who are not usually charged solely with grant proposal development duties, are not constantly in grant development mode and that, when they are, it is limited time that is well spent and part of a larger plan to increase student achievement.

Funding should directly support goals and priorities that are found in educational plans at the federal, state, and local levels. It is important to know what these priorities are and what is needed in the way of funding to meet those priorities. In this way, funding is accountable to the educational vision developed at all these levels. When it can be clearly shown that funding is accountable to and congruous with these educational priorities, the result often includes a record of success in schools and a track record of many successful grant applications.

Jill R. Oppenheim is NWREL's resource development associate. She can be reached at oppenhej@nwrel.org.

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