If money alone could produce high-achieving students, then resource-rich high schools wouldn't be wrestling with achievement gaps between their white and minority students.

If bountiful resources were the only determinant of school quality, a cash-poor district wouldn't show strong test results despite spending half as much on each pupil as many in other districts.
But money does matter, particularly in helping poor students who start school behind, say education advocates.
""First and most importantly, money can allow schools to extend the length of the school day and the school year,"" with after-school and summer school programs, said Glenn ""Max"" McGee, former state superintendent of education, who has studied high-performing, high-poverty school districts.
""Wealthier schools can spend a great deal of money on professional development and help teachers enhance their teaching skills. Schools that don't have money can't do that, or they have to rely on free services.""
Higher pay scales allow wealthier districts to attract good teachers and retain their star performers. ""Districts without money are always worried about losing their teachers to wealthier districts, and rightfully so,"" said McGee.
But according to Education Trust, Illinois has it backward -- spending too little to educate the poor and minority students who need additional resources, while affluent school systems give their students every advantage.
In its latest report on funding equality in the 50 states, the Washington, D.C.-based think tank skewered Illinois for allowing funding disparities to widen between districts serving high and low concentrations of poor students.
""The Illinois pattern is particularly troubling, given that the state has for years had the second largest per-student gap in the country. But bad apparently wasn't bad enough,"" chided the report, which said that gap had grown from $1,568 to $2,238 per student between 1999 and 2005.
Illinois ranked fourth from the bottom on a comparison of funding between districts with high and low percentages of minority students.
State Sen. James Meeks said if Illinois is embarrassed by the national attention he's drawing to funding inequities, well, Illinois should be embarrassed.
""When the national spotlight is on Illinois, that isn't my fault; that is Illinois' fault,"" said Meeks, speaking to his supporters Sunday during an event at Salem Baptist Church in Chicago, where he is pastor.
""I am just taking the little light that I have and shining the light.""
Richard Kahlenberg, senior fellow with The Century Foundation, said that per-pupil expenditures are less important than the context in which the child is educated.
""Money matters a great deal in education, but people matter more,"" said Kahlenberg. ""Having classmates who have big dreams and are academically engaged; parents who actively volunteer in the classroom; and great teachers are the key ingredients to an excellent education -- even more than high per-pupil expenditure.""
Kahlenberg advocates breaking up high concentrations of poverty and sending poor students to middle class schools.
""There have been a number of efforts to pour extra resources into high poverty schools which have proven disappointing,"" said Kahlenberg.
Meeks would like the opportunity to prove that pumping millions into poor schools is not throwing money down a sinkhole.
Meeks and Republican businessman Ronald Gidwitz have put forth a pilot plan that would test what money can accomplish in four clusters of low-performing schools.
The hope is that the $120 million, three-year experiment would show such promise that lawmakers will muster the political will to enact an income tax increase after the 2010 gubernatorial election.
(Source: pioneerlocal.com)