Date of Award
11-2023
Document Type
Dissertation
Selected Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Degree Name
Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Educational Leadership for Diverse Learning Communities
Department
Education
School
School of Education and Human Services
Abstract
Unequal school funding is a phenomenon that promotes an educational structure where certain public schools receive higher financial support and resources while other schools receive lower levels. An important but overlooked dimension of the phenomenon is its potential effect on teacher job satisfaction in underfunded and well-funded schools. This dimension forms the basis of this study and exploration of the phenomenon of unequal school funding. Using Susan Moore Johnson's framework, this qualitative phenomenological study aimed to understand how unequal school funding affected nine high school teachers across both under and well-funded high schools on Long Island. The study sought to explore school funding through its effects on teachers' job satisfaction. The findings of this study revealed that teachers in well-funded schools experienced considerably greater job satisfaction than teachers in underfunded ones. Findings showed that teacher job satisfaction is linked to teachers' perceptions of school funding as it pertained to their respective schools. Reasons rendered by teachers in well-funded schools describing their high level of job satisfaction directly related to the perceptions they had of how well their school was funded, as the areas from which the job satisfaction dwells are financially related. Implications suggest that focusing closer on the role that school administration plays in teacher job satisfaction, specifically, the negative consequences on morale in administration attrition rates, and re-considering school funding formulas so that more monies could be made available to underfunded schools would be helpful to improve teacher job satisfaction and thus improve the learning experience for students. Recommendations, limitations, and suggestions for future research are provided.
Related Pillar(s)
Study
Recommended Citation
Tomasic, David, "A Critical Exploration of Unequal School Funding: Teacher Job Satisfaction Across Underfunded and Well-Funded Schools" (2023). Theses & Dissertations. 179.
https://digitalcommons.molloy.edu/etd/179
