ABSTRACT
The school budget is basically an instrument of educational planning, and, incidentally, an instrument of control.
–Ray, Candoli, and Hack (2005)1
Budgets and Schools Considered in context of how this book has sequentially linked each topic, it is predictable that we now turn attention to the specific elements of building educational budgets. In other words, we have discussed the social context of schools, including recognition of a participatory and sometimes demanding constituent base. We have stressed the gravity of handling school money, and we have explained how revenues and expenditures are accounted for via fund structures. Additionally, we have outlined the many decisions underlying the construction and operation of state aid formulas. In sum, we have built a framework for understanding money and schools. Consequently, we now start to address and apply the many individual elements of budgeting.
