Sunday, November 13, 2011
Budget/Finance Inventory
I never received explicit budget/financing teaching in life. You'd think that may be a more important life skill than the quadratic equation. I can sing that song for the formula, but am I ready to balance and appropriately spend the funds for an entire school?! What I learned if from my parents, and my husband. Pay your bills, keep track of it, don't spend more than you make, avoid credit when possible, evaluate the importance of each purchase, etc. All of that "common sense" will help me one day as a principal and GIS, and let's face it, some people lack that "common sense." My school site received just over $32,000 this year and my principal knows exactly how that is all spent. Amazing. As a teacher, I have no concept of what that pressure must be like. Not having enough, working with less. Yes, as an adult, I get it, but the principal must answer to all of their dependents when things go sour. Students, staff, and community. Get out your Excel spreadsheets everybody! You are a Principal and a CPA. Congratulations! :)
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Isn't it amazing how little information we've gotten thus far about one of our most important responsibilities?! I agree that there must be a lot of much pressure for the administrators. I stress every year when I submit my warehouse supply order!
ReplyDeleteBudgeting is a HUGE responsibility and I'm glad we got an overview last weekend and a chance to meet with our site principals. I think financing and budgeting is an important skill that should be taught in schools. If my mom hadn't taught me how to budget and save, I know I wouldn't have learned it in school. Luckily, she worked at a bank for 25 years and balancing our family's finances was a big priority. It looks like it was that way with your family too :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with how little we really know as teachers. I feel like I have a lot to learn in order to me a good administrator. There is a lot of thought and organization that goes into each decision as the principal of a school
ReplyDeleteAlthough I have been in charge of budgeting for my family's income/expenses for about 15 years now, I still feel that I could benefit from applying some of the concepts used in educational budgeting/finance. It would be interesting to consider allocating funds for certain purposes and then keeping track of encumbered funds, carryover, etc. Being fiscally responsible is applicable to many facets of life. :-)
ReplyDeleteYes, Jessica, it is an overwhelmingly HUGE responsibility. I am fortunate that I get yo be directly involved in the discussions and decisions on how to spend our school money and the thing I've heard repeated over and over again in these discussions is ,"How will it increase student achievement?" Always keep in mind what's best for kids.
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