Critical Resource Theory A Conceptual Lens for Identifying, Diagnosing, and Addressing Inequities in School Funding

Critical Resource Theory (CReT) offers an innovative critical perspective on education funding. This new conceptual lens enables school leaders and policy makers to analyze quantitatively school funding policies and practices as a catalyst to make them more equitable. It offers a useful orientation and tool to increase fairness and opportunity in a society that systemically advantages the dominant group with ample resources while it disadvantages others by withholding them. Presenting a balance between the theoretical and its practical application to improve educational outcomes for marginalized children, chapters introduce and discuss this new extension of Critical Theory, validate it as a value-added and complete theory, place it within a broader philosophical framework, and construct its historical, social, political, and educational contexts. Designed for use in school finance and educational policy courses, this book presents an analytical tool that leaders, scholars, and policy makers can use to alter how they view public funding policies and practices – to question their assumptions about funding and resource allocations, look for, identify, and assess inadequacies and inequities, share their findings, and use these data to shape policy recommendations for increased fiscal fairness and improved student outcomes.

1. Critical Resource Theory 2. Critical Resource Theory’s "Family Tree" 3. Critical Resource Theory and Education Funding Inequities 4. From Courthouse to Schoolhouse: Determining School Funding Equity and Adequacy 5. Colorism, Caste, Structural Racism, and Racial Colorblindness 6. Education: Socializing Children for American Democracy

Leslie S. Kaplan is a retired teacher, school counselor, and school and district-level administrator and is currently a full-time education writer. She serves on the editorial board of the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) Bulletin. She is a 2014 National Education Finance Academy Distinguished Fellow of Research and Practice. William A. Owings is a Professor of Educational Leadership at Old Dominion University, USA. He serves as co-Treasurer of the National Education Finance Academy, is on the editorial advisory board of the Journal of Education Finance, and is a 2014 National Education Finance Academy Distinguished Fellow of Research and Practice.