Chapter 11: Two Steps Forward,One Step Back: A Brief Fifty-Year Overview of Educational Finance, Politics and Policy Influencing Urban Districts, Schools and Students

In the seminal work Education and the Cult of Efficiency (1962), Callahan examined the state of public education in the 1960s resulting from business, economic, and political events stemming from the early 1900s. He asserted that district and school leaders of the time incorporated business approaches into public education processes only after decades of political pressure from prominent business leaders. The myriad of debates concerning what constitutes an excellent education for all students has been roiling for the past 50 years. As such, the purpose of this chapter is to provide a brief overview of the efficiency debate since the 1960s while paying special attention to the issues affecting urban districts, schools, and students.