This book takes an applied approach to budgeting and fiscal administration in P-12 public education. It presents new and aspiring P-12 educational leaders with the fundamental knowledge and skills to supervise, analyze, and implement budgets that make the best and most effective use of limited resources. By exploring the foundational elements of fiscal administration and outlining the process step-by-step, this text carefully takes leaders through real-world examples and includes myriad opportunities for application. Indeed, a major goal of this text is to provide readers with a set of technical skills that can be applied across a range of contexts. Our expectation is that current and future P-12 budget managers and educational leaders will find this text invaluable in their day-to-day work and that the material presented here will help them engage in fruitful decisions around the allocation of scare resources.

Spencer C. Weiler is an associate professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Northern Colorado. In addition to numerous publications (books, book chapters, and journal articles) in the area of school finance and budgeting, Dr. Weiler is honored to have worked 15 years in public education.