EDLD 5342 Week
Two Assignment, Part 1 – Defining and Describing a Goal Driven Budget
A goal driven budget is making
the connection between policies, major decisions, instructional programs and
services, and the allocation of funds to support them. It is the establishment
of goals followed by allocating the resources to implement the goals. Goals
that are based on the vision and mission of the school should drive the
development of the school budget.
As Dr. Nicks stated in the
lecture this week, “the purpose of a goal driven budget is to assist in the
attainment of a shared vision for the district and each campus”. He also stated
that we should “think about the budgeting process as part of the total planning
process of the school district” (EDLD 5342 Week Two lecture template p 1).
A goal driven budget
process should exist in every district in the state. A large portion of each district’s
budget is fixed costs (i.e. salaries, fuel, electricity, maintenance,
transportation). With this in mind it makes it more difficult to proportion a
large amount of funding to meet the goals of the district. A goal driven budget
is simply having a budget that reflects and funds the vision and goals of the
school district. In my district the district improvement plan does not have the
funds listed on it, but when you look at the budget sheets and the plan side by
side you can see the direct correlation of the planning process. When budgets
are not just balance sheets but are utilized as a spending plan and district
improvement plans are not just written paper only but used to implement the
vision and mission to improve teaching and learning credibility is established
and realized for all learners.
Hello Brenda,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your ideas. I am writing in response to your comments regarding, "A goal driven budget is making the connection between policies, major decisions, instructional programs and services, and the allocation of funds to support them." The concept of making connections between the needs and actions within the district are crucial to ensuring intentionality of effort and maximizing the use of funding for the best uses within the district. Professionals of excellence are contiuously working to connect what needs to be done with what is actually happening. This requires a system for monitoring and evaluating how well goals and actions are alinged over time; and then making adjustments as needed.
Alma, I appreciate your comment and agree with you wholeheartedly that a system of monitoring, evaluating and adjusting is necessary in the education budgeting process.
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