Lesson 18: Why is the theater curtain still falling apart? Educator guide

$48 million and one torn curtain

The story: The curtain that won’t close

The curtain in the school theater is torn, and it no longer closes all the way. Dec, 17, pulls that curtain at every show. He and Anika, 16, are on the theater crew. The facilities office has priced a new curtain at $6,800.

Mari, 19, is helping them prepare a question for the school board. They find the district’s proposed budget for next school year. The total is $48 million for a projected 3,200 students. One line sets aside $310,000 for building repairs at all schools.

On Tuesday at 6:10 p.m., a post starts going around. It compares the district’s $48 million with another district, Westbrook, at $21,000 per student. “And they can’t fix ONE curtain??” it asks.

Mari’s first question is simple: where are those numbers from? Your role is to work out the per-student number before anyone repeats the post.

Same scale, fair comparison

In Lesson 11, you learned to compare two things on the same terms. The post does not. It compares a total for a whole district with an amount per student. That is like comparing a whole pizza with one slice.

A per-pupil amount is a total divided by the number of students, so that districts of different sizes can be compared. Do the math: $48,000,000 divided by 3,200 students is $15,000 per student. Now the two numbers are on the same scale. Even so, the comparison is not complete. Nobody knows Westbrook’s budget year or stage.

An expenditure is money that a government or an organization spends. Revenue is money that comes into a government or an organization, such as taxes and grants. The budget is marked “proposed.” In Lesson 4, you learned that a proposal is a change that someone suggests and that has not been approved yet. The figures may change before the board adopts the budget.

In Lesson 5, you read a pay statement line by line. A budget works the same way. Mari looks for the line that might pay for a curtain. The building repairs line is one guess. Dec starts with what he can show: the curtain, his photo and the $6,800 quote. “I don’t know where the money went,” he says, “so I’m not guessing.”

In Lesson 4, you also learned that a decision-maker is the person or group with the power to make a particular choice. Here, the school board adopts the budget. So Dec’s question goes to the board: which line pays for stage equipment, and when does the board hear requests?

A TV show asks the same question

In the first episode of the TV comedy Abbott Elementary (ABC, December 7, 2021), teachers need rugs and supplies. The principal gets money and spends it on a new sign instead. The money existed. The question is which line it was in, and who decided.

Key terms in this passage

Revenue

Revenue is money that comes into a government or an organization, such as taxes and grants.

Expenditure

An expenditure is money that a government or an organization spends.

Per-pupil amount

A per-pupil amount is a total divided by the number of students, so that districts of different sizes can be compared.

Proposal

A proposal is a change that someone suggests and that has not been approved yet.

Decision-maker

A decision-maker is the person or group with the power to make a particular choice.

Real sources cited

• ABC, “About Abbott Elementary,” No date listed. Open the source (opens in a new tab)

A total is not a per-student number

The story: A curtain and a viral post

Dec pulls the stage curtain at every show. The fabric is torn, and the curtain no longer closes all the way. Dec, 17, and Anika, 16, are on the theater crew, and the facilities office has already given the theater advisor a quote to replace it: $6,800.

Mari, 19, is helping them prepare a question for the school board. Together they find the district’s proposed budget for next school year. The top line is $48 million for a projected 3,200 students. One line reads “Facilities, building repairs (all schools): $310,000.” A note at the bottom says the figures are proposed and may change before the board adopts the budget.

Then, on Tuesday at 6:10 p.m., a post starts circulating: “Our district: $48 MILLION. Westbrook: $21,000 per student. And they can’t fix ONE curtain?? Where is the money going?” Anika sends it to the chat. Dec admits the curtain part is true. Mari asks where the numbers come from.

Your role is to work out the per-student number before anyone repeats the post.

Year, stage and unit

Before comparing two budget numbers, check three labels: the year, the stage and the unit. The post skips all three. Its $48 million is a proposed total for a whole district next year. Its Westbrook figure is a per-student amount from an unknown year and stage.

A per-pupil amount is a total divided by the number of students, so that districts of different sizes can be compared. The new skill is comparing numbers on the same scale, and it builds on Lesson 11, where you compared two jobs on the same terms. Divide $48,000,000 by 3,200 students, and the district’s proposed amount is $15,000 per student. The post’s comparison now looks different. It is still incomplete, because Westbrook’s budget year and stage are unknown. A per-pupil figure also cannot say whether either district has enough for its students’ needs.

Revenue is money that comes into a government or an organization, such as taxes and grants. An expenditure is money that a government or an organization spends. The budget is a plan for expenditures, and it is a proposal, the Lesson 4 term for a change that someone suggests and that has not been approved yet. A proposed budget, an adopted budget and actual spending are three different documents.

Lesson 5 taught you to read a document line by line. Mari applies that to the budget. She reads the labels before reacting to the big number, and she looks for the line that could cover a curtain. Lesson 13 taught you to keep a claim as small as your evidence. Dec does that. His photo shows the tear, and that is all it shows. He brings the photo, the $6,800 quote and a question.

The Lesson 4 decision-maker, the person or group with the power to make a particular choice, is the school board, which adopts the budget. Dec’s question should name one line, one need and the board’s next chance to hear requests. He also wants to ask it himself, because it is his crew’s curtain.

Real budgets, real limits

The National Center for Education Statistics reports that public schools get revenue from federal, state and local sources, and the mix differs by state (NCES, May 2024). NPR has explained how local property taxes make school budgets very different from one district to the next (NPR, April 18, 2016). Many large districts are now making cuts because of inflation and enrollment declines, which shows how a large budget can leave little room for extras (Chalkbeat, May 28, 2026).

Key terms in this passage

Revenue

Revenue is money that comes into a government or an organization, such as taxes and grants.

Expenditure

An expenditure is money that a government or an organization spends.

Per-pupil amount

A per-pupil amount is a total divided by the number of students, so that districts of different sizes can be compared.

Proposal

A proposal is a change that someone suggests and that has not been approved yet.

Decision-maker

A decision-maker is the person or group with the power to make a particular choice.

Real sources cited

• National Center for Education Statistics, “Public School Revenue Sources (Condition of Education),” May 2024. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• NPR, “Why America's Schools Have A Money Problem,” April 18, 2016. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• Chalkbeat, “A financial reckoning is hitting America’s public schools,” May 28, 2026. Open the source (opens in a new tab)

Reading a budget before reacting to it

The story: Where is the money going?

Dec, 17, a senior on the theater crew, pulls the stage curtain at every show. It is torn and no longer closes all the way. The facilities office has already priced a flame-retardant replacement, removal and installation included, at $6,800. Dec has a photo of the tear. He wants to take the problem to the school board, and he wants to be the one who asks.

Mari, 19, is helping him and Anika, 16, prepare. The district’s proposed budget for next school year is posted online. The headline figure is $48,000,000, with projected enrollment of 3,200 students. A facilities line provides $310,000 for building repairs across all schools. A note warns that the figures are proposed and may change before adoption.

On Tuesday at 6:10 p.m., a post begins circulating. It sets the district’s $48 million beside Westbrook’s $21,000 per student and asks why the district cannot fix one curtain. The post has the emotional logic of a good question. It also has the arithmetic of a bad one. Mari’s instinct is to ask where the numbers are from.

Your role is to work out the per-student number before anyone repeats the post.

Putting numbers on the same scale

Budget numbers carry three labels that must match before a comparison means anything: year, stage and unit. The post mismatches all three. It pairs a proposed district total for next year with a per-student figure of unknown year and stage.

A per-pupil amount is a total divided by the number of students, so that districts of different sizes can be compared. The new skill in this case is comparing numbers on the same scale. It extends Lesson 11’s habit of comparing like with like. Dividing $48,000,000 by 3,200 gives $15,000 per student. The recalculation changes the post’s implied story, but it does not settle it. Westbrook’s year and stage are still unknown, and a per-pupil figure cannot show whether either district’s funding matches its students’ needs.

The vocabulary of public finance keeps other distinctions straight. Revenue is money that comes into a government or an organization, such as taxes and grants. An expenditure is money that a government or an organization spends. This document is a proposal, the Lesson 4 term for a change that someone suggests and that has not been approved yet. A proposed budget, the adopted budget and actual spending are three different records.

The crew’s method draws on earlier cases. Mari reads the budget line by line, the skill from Lesson 5, looking for the line that could plausibly cover a stage curtain. She is not sure a curtain counts as a building repair, and she wants to find out. Dec follows Lesson 13’s rule of keeping a claim as small as the evidence. His photo proves the tear and nothing about where money went, so he brings the photo, the quote and a question rather than an accusation. Lesson 4’s decision-maker, the person or group with the power to make a particular choice, points to the school board, which adopts the budget within state and federal rules. His question should name one budget line, one need and the board’s next chance to hear requests.

Funding, spending and outcomes

National data give context but not local answers. NCES reports that public-school revenue comes from federal, state and local sources, with a mix that varies by state (NCES, May 2024). Its state-by-state table for 2022–23 includes per-pupil amounts (NCES Digest table 235.20, March 2026). Reliance on local property taxes produces large differences between districts (NPR, April 18, 2016).

Budgets also change over time. When temporary federal pandemic relief ran out, districts faced what reporters called a funding cliff (Chalkbeat, September 13, 2023). In 2026, many districts made cuts and layoffs tied to inflation and enrollment declines (Chalkbeat, May 28, 2026). Spending levels matter for students. A major study of school finance reforms found that more per-pupil spending raised graduation rates and adult earnings, especially for low-income students (Jackson, Johnson and Persico, Quarterly Journal of Economics, October 1, 2015).

The SPJ code offers a rule for anyone writing about budgets: “Provide context. Take special care not to misrepresent or oversimplify in promoting, previewing or summarizing a story” (SPJ Code of Ethics, September 6, 2014). The viral post fails that test, and Dec’s question passes it.

Key terms in this passage

Revenue

Revenue is money that comes into a government or an organization, such as taxes and grants.

Expenditure

An expenditure is money that a government or an organization spends.

Per-pupil amount

A per-pupil amount is a total divided by the number of students, so that districts of different sizes can be compared.

Proposal

A proposal is a change that someone suggests and that has not been approved yet.

Decision-maker

A decision-maker is the person or group with the power to make a particular choice.

Real sources cited

• National Center for Education Statistics, “Public School Revenue Sources (Condition of Education),” May 2024. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• National Center for Education Statistics, “Revenue sources for public schools by state, 2022–23 (Digest table 235.20),” March 2026. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• NPR, “Why America's Schools Have A Money Problem,” April 18, 2016. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• Chalkbeat, “Schools face a funding cliff. How bad will the fall be?,” September 13, 2023. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• Chalkbeat, “A financial reckoning is hitting America’s public schools,” May 28, 2026. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• The Quarterly Journal of Economics (Jackson, Johnson & Persico), “The Effects of School Spending on Educational and Economic Outcomes: Evidence from School Finance Reforms,” October 1, 2015. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), “SPJ Code of Ethics,” 2014. Open the source (opens in a new tab)

Budget literacy and the politics of a number

The story: A local need and a viral comparison

A high school’s stage curtain is torn and no longer closes. Dec, 17, pulls it at every performance. Facilities has priced a replacement at $6,800. With Anika, 16, and Mari, 19, Dec plans to raise it with the school board, and he insists on asking in person.

The district’s proposed budget for next year lists $48,000,000 for a projected 3,200 students and $310,000 for building repairs across all schools. It notes that the figures may change before adoption. Then a post circulates on Tuesday evening. It pairs the district’s $48 million with a neighboring district’s $21,000 per student and asks why one curtain cannot be fixed.

The post is persuasive because its underlying grievance is real. The curtain is broken. Its numbers, however, are incommensurable. Mari’s response models budget literacy. She reads the labels before reacting to the magnitude. “Proposed” means next year’s plan, not this year’s spending. The units must be checked. And she asks which line could plausibly fund a curtain at all.

Your role is to work out the per-student number before anyone repeats the post.

Commensurability and the chain of decisions

Comparisons require commensurable figures, meaning the same year, the same stage and the same unit. A per-pupil amount is a total divided by the number of students, so that districts of different sizes can be compared. The district’s proposed per-pupil figure is $15,000, which is $48,000,000 divided by 3,200. Only after that conversion does a comparison with Westbrook become possible, and it remains incomplete while Westbrook’s year and stage are unknown. Even a perfect comparison would measure resources, not adequacy. A per-pupil figure cannot say whether students’ needs are met.

The case’s vocabulary distinguishes flows from plans. Revenue is money that comes into a government or an organization, such as taxes and grants. An expenditure is money that a government or an organization spends. The document at hand is a proposal, a change that someone suggests and that has not been approved yet, in Lesson 4’s terms. It is distinct from the adopted budget and from actual spending.

The case also completes a sequence of numerical skills. Lesson 5 introduced line-by-line reading of a financial document. Lesson 11 required comparing situations on the same terms. Lesson 13 required keeping a claim as small as the evidence. Here, Mari applies the first two to the budget, and Dec applies the third to his own evidence. His photo establishes the tear. It says nothing about where funds went, so he declines to speculate.

Lesson 4’s decision-maker, the person or group with the power to make a particular choice, locates authority. The school board adopts the budget within state and federal rules, so it, not the principal, is the right audience. An effective question names a line, a need and a procedural moment: which line covers stage equipment, what the $6,800 request would require and when the board hears requests before adoption.

Finance, evidence and professional duty

School revenue combines federal, state and local sources in proportions that vary by state (NCES, May 2024). NCES publishes state-by-state revenue with per-pupil amounts for 2022–23 (NCES Digest table 235.20, March 2026). Those figures give context and cannot stand in for a district’s own adopted budget. Local property-tax reliance produces large disparities (NPR, April 18, 2016). The trade-off between local control and equity is itself a policy debate (Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, October 10, 2024).

Budgets also change with circumstances. The expiration of federal pandemic relief created a funding cliff for many districts (Chalkbeat, September 13, 2023). By 2026, many districts were cutting programs and staff because of inflation and falling enrollment (Chalkbeat, May 28, 2026). The stakes are measurable. Jackson, Johnson and Persico found that increases in per-pupil spending from school finance reforms raised educational attainment and adult earnings, particularly for low-income students (Quarterly Journal of Economics, October 1, 2015).

Professional codes apply to both sides of Dec’s question. ASPA asks public administrators to give governing boards “accurate, honest, comprehensive, and timely information and advice” (ASPA Code of Ethics, 2013). The NCA credo holds “truthfulness, accuracy, honesty, and reason” to be “essential to the integrity of communication” (NCA Credo for Ethical Communication, 2024). The TV connection adds a cultural lens. In Abbott Elementary’s pilot, a principal spends money on a sign while teachers need supplies (ABC, December 7, 2021). A TV show cannot settle a real budget, but its question is the case’s question: which line, and who decided?

Key terms in this passage

Revenue

Revenue is money that comes into a government or an organization, such as taxes and grants.

Expenditure

An expenditure is money that a government or an organization spends.

Per-pupil amount

A per-pupil amount is a total divided by the number of students, so that districts of different sizes can be compared.

Proposal

A proposal is a change that someone suggests and that has not been approved yet.

Decision-maker

A decision-maker is the person or group with the power to make a particular choice.

Real sources cited

• National Center for Education Statistics, “Public School Revenue Sources (Condition of Education),” May 2024. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• National Center for Education Statistics, “Revenue sources for public schools by state, 2022–23 (Digest table 235.20),” March 2026. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• NPR, “Why America's Schools Have A Money Problem,” April 18, 2016. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, “Balancing Act: The Property Tax–School Funding Dilemma,” October 10, 2024. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• Chalkbeat, “Schools face a funding cliff. How bad will the fall be?,” September 13, 2023. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• Chalkbeat, “A financial reckoning is hitting America’s public schools,” May 28, 2026. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• The Quarterly Journal of Economics (Jackson, Johnson & Persico), “The Effects of School Spending on Educational and Economic Outcomes: Evidence from School Finance Reforms,” October 1, 2015. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• American Society for Public Administration (ASPA), “ASPA Code of Ethics,” 2013. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• National Communication Association (NCA), “Credo for Ethical Communication,” 2024. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• ABC, “About Abbott Elementary,” No date listed. Open the source (opens in a new tab)