Financial Mismanagement in Public Schools in America - Research Proposal Example

Research Proposal Financial Mismanagement in Public Schools in America Introduction Section Introduction As already hinted, the topic for this research will be Financial Mismanagement in Public Schools in America. As an educationist, I am concerned about welfare of the American children who mainly rely on public education as a source of hope. The research will be carried out to investigate the cases of misappropriation of school funds by the school administrators. Although the decentralization of school funds management has been appreciated, it has been faulted for promoting the embezzlement of the moneys allocated for each school. Since it is the school principals and administrators who are vested with the responsibility of spending on behalf of their institutions, many of them have failed to act accordingly. Instead, they have deliberately opted to fleece these institutions of their resources. According to the official records from the US Department of Education, the federal government spends a total of $550 billion to support the running of public elementary and high schools in the nation (Legislative Joint Auditing Committee, 2010). For instance, in 2013, it allocated $141 billion for this course in 2013. As usual, this money was expected to be properly used for supporting all the academic and non-academic activities in these institutions. A proper use of these resources can be of much importance towards the facilitation of the teaching and learning processes in these institutions. It is believed that efficient funding of public schools is necessary for effective implementation of all the programs and eventual accomplishments of the educational goals in the country. Unfortunately, as it is now, all these might be far from being achieved. Despite the federal, state and local governments pumping lots of money into public schools, the sector is still in a crisis. The school principals and administrators, who are authorized to spend on behalf of their respective schools, can not account for their expenditures. Meaning, instead of using these resources for the intended purpose, they divert them to other unnecessary uses (Starr, 2014). This research will study this matter and find out what makes these administrators to abuse school funds by giving gifts to themselves, relatives and accomplices instead of complying with and fully implementing their school budgets to use the money for the right purpose. Nature of the Problem Since public schools are funded by all the three levels of government, any cases of misuse of such funds should be taken so seriously. Thus, misappropriation of public school resources should be a matter of national concern. It is good for the individual American citizens who pay their taxes to know how their moneys are spent. So, for them to be content, they should know how money is being used in the public education sector. Anyone responsible for their use should be ready to be accountable at all times. However, since such accountability has been lacking in a large number of school administrators, there is need to remedy the situation. This is why this paper seeks to conduct an extensive research so as to find out more facts and give recommendations that can be used to tackle this menace (Creswell, 2008). It is not an isolated, but a common problem which needs an immediate redress. Purpose of the Project This research is aimed at studying the cases of financial mismanagement in public schools in the country. However, it will narrow down on Pulaski Special County School District as a case study. This notwithstanding, mismanagement of school funds has been experienced throughout the country (Starr, 2014). Surprisingly, most of these offenses have been committed by the administrators who are charged with responsibility of designing and implementing their school budgets. It is for this reason that the research aims at conducting studies on these schools to find out how the they use their revenues. The information collected will be used in understanding the causes of this problem before giving out well-thought and feasible recommendations on how it can be eliminated. Research Questions The following will be the research questions for this project: Is it true that most school principals misuse school revenues that are supposed to be used for running their school programs? What are the causes of misappropriation of school funds by the school administrators in the country? Is it right to claim that many school administrators lack accounting and book keeping skills to enable them account for their school resources? To what extent should one agree with the claim that financial mismanagement in public schools paralyzes the teaching and learning processes in such institutions? What roles should the District School Board and the Superintendent of Schools do to ensure that school resources are not embezzled by the school administrators? What measures should be taken by the US and State Departments of Education to help in curbing the cases of financial mismanagement and fraud in public schools in the country? Background and Significance of the Problem Majority of children in the US can not afford to study in the high cost schools. To them, education can only be acquired in public schools which mainly depend on public funding. This explains why the federal, state and local governments collaborate to sponsor these elementary and high schools. It is necessary for each of these schools to get adequate funding since it can make it much possible for them to effectively run all their day to day activities. However, to do this, the available resources should be properly managed and be accounted for (Starr, 2014). Otherwise, all the efforts put by the local, state and federal governments in supporting these schools will be futile. Despite the devolution of the school funds management to the school levels, many schools still fail to effectively run their programs. With all the powers vested on them, a number of school administrators still can not account for their expenditures. Instead of fully implementing their budgets, such administrators end up channeling school resources to other projects. This is an act of irresponsibility which has been evidenced in very many schools across the country (Radin, 2006). Most school administrators do not mind defrauding their institutions, misusing, embezzling and stealing their revenues, which in itself, is not enough to support all the school activities. Since school funds mismanagement is a very serious problem which has been ailing the education sector, it needs to be eradicated. To do this, there needs to be a vigorous research to discover its magnitude, causes, consequences and remedial measures. These are the major issues that will be addressed by this research problem. It is a well choice of a problem because it deals with an issue of concern to the education sector. As it is today, public education faces numerous challenges including high enrolment rates, inadequate resources and high costs of operations. These mean that they need to look for more resources using their own services such as tuition, transportation, library and catering. The findings from this research will be of much importance to me as a professional, to the education profession, to the policy makers, to the government, to the school-going children and to the entire American population who know the contributions of public education to the society (Creswell, 2008). If its recommendations are effectively implemented, no school will have its operations interfered with by the misuse of its resources. This is a clear proof that this research is very important and should be effectively, patiently and professionally carried out. It has a lot of value to add to me in particular and all the other concerned stakeholders who are ready to do something to transform the public education sector in the country. References Creswell, J. W. (2008). Educational Research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (3rd Ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson. Legislative Joint Auditing Committee (2010) “Review of Selected Transactions- Pulaski County Special School District.” Little Rock: Division of Legislative Audit. Retrieved From: http://media.arkansasonline.com/news/documents/2011/06/21/pcssdaudit2.pdf On 26/10/2014. Radin, B. (2006) Challenging the Performance Movement: Accountability, Complexity, and Democratic Values. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press. Starr, K. (2014) ‘Interrogating conceptions of leadership: school principals, policy and paradox.’ School Leadership & Management: Formerly School Organisation. Volume 34 Issue 3. Read More