Designed to Fail: Why Racial Equity in School Funding Is So Hard to Achieve

by Roseann Liu

A provocative examination of how systemic racism in education funding is sustained.
 
For people who care about urban school districts like Philadelphia’s, addressing the challenges that these schools face often boils down to the need for more money. But why are urban districts that serve Black and Brown students still so perennially underfunded compared to majority-white ones? Why is racial equity in school funding so hard to achieve?

In Designed to Fail , Roseann Liu provides an inside look at the Pennsylvania state legislature and campaigns for fair funding to show how those responsible for the distribution of school funding work to maintain the privileges of majority-white school districts. Liu analyzes how colorblind policies, political structures, and the maintenance of the status quo by people in power perpetuate wide and deepening racial disparities in education funding. Taking a lesson from community organizers fighting for a racially equitable school funding system, Liu’s work is a bold call to address structural racism at the root and organize from a place of abundant justice.
 

205 pages, Paperback

Published April 11, 2024

Reviews

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Designed to Fail, Roseann Liu argues that racial inequities in school funding are not accidental flaws but the predictable result of political decisions that have historically protected predominantly White communities while disadvantaging communities of color. Using Pennsylvania as a case study, she demonstrates that even when policymakers and advocacy organizations support equitable funding, political compromises often prevent meaningful reform. Rather than presenting inequitable school funding as a policy failure, Liu argues that it is the predictable outcome of a system designed to preserve existing advantages.

One of the book's central themes is Pennsylvania's "hold harmless" provision, which Liu aptly renames "hold harmful." Under this policy, districts never lose state funding when enrollment declines, allowing historical funding patterns to remain largely unchanged. Although Pennsylvania adopted a fair funding formula in 2016, Liu explains that it applies only to new state funding, representing roughly 10 percent of the education budget. The remaining 90 percent continues to be distributed according to decades-old allocations. Consequently, many small, predominantly White rural districts continue receiving funding based on outdated enrollment, while growing majority-minority districts struggle to receive resources that reflect current student need. Liu argues that this is not simply an inefficient funding system—it is a racial inequity preserved through policy choices.

Liu also examines how race itself became difficult to discuss during funding debates. Many advocacy organizations intentionally adopted a colorblind approach, believing that explicitly framing school funding as a racial equity issue would weaken political support for reform. Likewise, many education organizations and teachers' unions opposed applying the fair funding formula to the entire education budget because some member districts benefited from the existing system. Liu argues that avoiding conversations about race, combined with political self-interest, ultimately limited meaningful progress toward equitable school funding.

Liu supports her arguments through interviews, legislative history, policy analysis, and observations of advocacy efforts. Rather than relying solely on statistics, she provides a behind-the-scenes look at how education policy is negotiated. I found this ethnographic approach to be one of the book's greatest strengths because it moves beyond documenting funding disparities to explain how they are continually reproduced through political negotiations, institutional incentives, and the decisions of those in positions of power. As I read, I found myself repeatedly frustrated by how often meaningful reform was sacrificed for political compromise, and Liu challenged me to think about school finance not simply as a question of money, but as a reflection of whose communities we choose to prioritize. The book is accessible even for readers without an extensive background in school finance, although it becomes repetitive at times, and the many organizations and political figures can occasionally be difficult to follow.

Overall, Designed to Fail is a thoughtful and persuasive examination of race, politics, and educational finance. Perhaps the book's greatest contribution is showing that inequitable school funding is not simply the result of flawed policies, but of repeated political choices that have preserved advantages for some communities while disproportionately disadvantaging students of color. Although the book was only published in 2024, it has already received positive reviews in journals across multiple academic disciplines, suggesting it is making an important contribution to conversations about educational equity. I would recommend this book to educators, policymakers, and anyone interested in understanding why achieving racial equity in school funding remains such a difficult challenge.

[Claire Binkley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Money is important. It helps combat against problems such as ignorance and hunger. This author shows how the schools in my specific parts of Pennsylvania have had trouble getting enough money for all students who are not White, even as of last year.

I liked carrying this book around, incidentally, since the "Fail" is clearer to see than the rest of the title, so it emphasized whatever I was saying.

There are other issues Liu raises in the text, for example, an unwillingness to be accountable, but the largest one I see is a lack of capital.

In the end, I don't think there is a why, I think that more people need to acknowledge that inequality is a problem that exists.

[PS · Rating 2 out of 5]

Definitely not an ethnography. At best, a portrait of Pennsylvania legislators from the view of an advocacy group that sees the legislature as their enemy.