Book Reviews

2010 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 162-166
Keyword(s):  
School Finance ◽  
Family Background ◽  
School Funding ◽  
School Level ◽  
School Resources ◽  
Multiple Resources ◽  
Dynamic Inequality ◽  
Duke University ◽  
Leadership Instruction ◽  
National Educational Longitudinal Survey

Helen F. Ladd of Duke University reviews “The Money Myth: School Resources, Outcomes, and Equity” by W. Norton Grubb,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Examines how inequalities in resources other than money, such as leadership, instruction, and tracking policies, contribute to the deepening divide in the quality and success of American education. Discusses moving beyond money--the variety of educational resources; multiple resources, multiple outcomes--testing the improved school finance with the National Educational Longitudinal Survey of the Class of 1988; when money does matter--explaining the weak effects of school funding; families as resources--the effects of family background and demographic effects; students as resources--the effects of connectedness to schooling; equity and inequality--from static to dynamic conceptions; dynamic inequality--schooling outcomes over time; correcting dynamic inequality in practice--exploring what schools do for low-performing students; making resources matter--implications for school-level practice; supporting the improved school finance--district, state, and federal roles; the implications for litigation of the improved school finance; and the implications for reform--conceptions of schooling and the role of the welfare state. Grubb is Professor and David Gardner Chair in Higher Education at the School of Education, University of California, Berkeley, and Faculty Coordinator of the Principal Leadership Institute. Index.”

Multiple Resources, Multiple Outcomes: Testing the “Improved”School Finance With NELS88

2008 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Norton Grubb
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
School Finance ◽  
Test Scores ◽  
Longitudinal Survey ◽  
Production Functions ◽  
School Resources ◽  
Effective School ◽  
Multiple Resources ◽  
National Educational Longitudinal Survey

This article first presents the conceptual framework of the “improved” school finance. This approach clarifies that effective school resources include compound resources, complex resources, and abstract resources in addition to the simple resources usually included in production functions. The implications of this approach are then explored with the National Educational Longitudinal Survey of the Class of 1988 (NELS88), data rich enough to measure many school resources and many outcomes. The results indicate that simple resources are much less powerful than compound, complex, and abstract resources. Many effective resources are unaffected by spending levels and must be constructed within schools, explaining why money often does not make a difference to outcomes. The results also indicate that, while a few powerful resources affect all outcomes, some affect test scores but not progress through high school, while others affect progress but not learning.

“Theoretically all Children are Equal. Practically this can Never be So”: The History of the District Property Tax in California and the Choice of Inequality

2020 ◽  
Vol 122 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-32
Author(s):  
Matthew Gardner Kelly
Keyword(s):  
School Finance ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Property Tax ◽  
School Funding ◽  
State Governments ◽  
Property Taxation ◽  
History Of ◽  
Long Term Trends ◽  
Funding Disparities

Background/Context Dealing mostly in aggregate statistics that mask important regional variations, scholars often assume that district property taxation and the resource disparities this approach to school funding creates are deeply rooted in the history of American education. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study This article explores the history of district property taxation and school funding disparities in California during the 19th and 20th centuries. First, the article documents the limited use of district property taxation for school funding in California and several other Western states during the 19th century, showing that the development of school finance was more complicated than standard accounts suggest. Then, the article examines how a coalition of experts, activists, and politicians worked together during the early 20th century to promote district property taxation and institutionalize the idea that the wealth of local communities, rather than the wealth of the entire state, should determine the resources available for public schooling. Research Design This article draws on primary source documents from state and regional archives, including district-level funding data from nine Northern California counties, to complete a historical analysis. Conclusions/Recommendations The history of California's district property tax suggests the need for continued research on long-term trends in school finance and educational inequality. Popular accounts minimizing the historical role of state governments in school funding obscure how public policies, not just market forces shaping property values, create funding inequalities. In turn, these accounts communicate powerful messages about the supposed inevitability of funding disparities and the responsibility of state governments to correct them. Through increased attention to long-term trends in school funding, scholars can help popular commentators and policymakers avoid assumptions that naturalize inequality and narrow the possibilities for future funding reforms.

scholarly journals School Finance Reform and the Distribution of Student Achievement

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julien Lafortune ◽  
Jesse Rothstein ◽  
Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach
Keyword(s):  
School Districts ◽  
Low Income ◽  
School Finance ◽  
Educational Achievement ◽  
School Resources ◽  
Finance Reform ◽  
National Assessment ◽  
School Finance Reform ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Representative Samples

We study the impact of post-1990 school finance reforms, during the so-called “adequacy” era, on absolute and relative spending and achievement in low-income school districts. Using an event study research design that exploits the apparent randomness of reform timing, we show that reforms lead to sharp, immediate, and sustained increases in spending in low-income school districts. Using representative samples from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, we find that reforms cause increases in the achievement of students in these districts, phasing in gradually over the years following the reform. The implied effect of school resources on educational achievement is large. (JEL H75, I21, I22, I24, I28)

The Effect of School Funding on Opportunity Gaps for Students With Disabilities: Policy and Context in a Diverse Urban District

2020 ◽  
pp. 104420732097054
Author(s):  
Rebecca A Cruz ◽  
Joon-Ho Lee ◽  
Alexandra G. Aylward ◽  
Catherine Kramarczuk Voulgarides
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
School Finance ◽  
School Context ◽  
School Funding ◽  
Education Programs ◽  
Urban District ◽  
Local Control Funding Formula ◽  
Special Education Programs ◽  
Opportunity Gaps

School finance reform has recently centered on providing schools with more equitable access to resources to reduce opportunity gaps for students. Although special education is often a prominent part of larger equity conversations, special education funding is commonly excluded from school funding reform initiatives. Given the costly nature of special education programs, it is imperative that scholars and policy makers understand the effects of funding changes on outcomes for these students. In this study, we examined the effect of California’s Local Control Funding Formula, in addition to school context and student compositional characteristics, to identify changes in special education students’ achievement rates. Using a combination of publicly available data sources and local district data, we assessed differences in academic outcomes (i.e., achievement scores) between elementary students with and without disabilities in both high- and low-poverty schools, given increases in spending for special education programs.

Politics, Policy, and Categorical Aid: New Inequities in California School Finance

1994 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas B. Timar
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
School Districts ◽  
School Finance ◽  
School Funding ◽  
State Legislature ◽  
State Control ◽  
New Politics ◽  
Local Finance ◽  
Political Interests ◽  
Tax Limitation

The combined effects of court-imposed school finance equalization and various tax limitation measures in California have created a centralized, state system of school finance. An immediate benefit of centralization was greater revenue equity among the state's school districts. On the other hand, new inequities have been created as decision making on school funding shifted from local districts to the state legislature. Access to decision making, mobilization of political power, and the legitimation of new interests have created a new politics of educational finance. This article examines the political tensions and conflicts that have arisen as a consequence of state control over local finance. Specifically, I argue that categorical funding has become a vehicle for politicians to channel funds to constituent interests. This article examines the growth of categorical funding in relation to the Serrano mandate and the extent to which categorical funds serve narrow political interests as opposed to broad state policy interests.

Accountability and Local Control: Response to Incentives with and without Authority over Resource Generation and Allocation

2007 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanna Loeb ◽  
Katharine Strunk
Keyword(s):  
Local Control ◽  
School Finance ◽  
Control School ◽  
School Resources ◽  
Schools And Staffing Survey ◽  
State Supreme Court ◽  
Control Response ◽  
Self Assessments ◽  
Education Statistics ◽  
Supreme Court Rulings

This article examines the interaction between school accountability and local control over revenue raising and resource allocation. In particular, it asks whether accountability policies are more or less effective at improving student outcomes in states with stronger local control. Local control is operationalized with multiple measures, including the percentage of education funding from categorical grants, state supreme court rulings overturning school finance systems, local entities' taxing authority, and principals' self-assessments of their ability to control school resources. Using the National Center for Education Statistics' Schools and Staffing Survey and National Assessment of Educational Progress, the article finds that accountability policies are more effective when there is greater local control.

scholarly journals State school finance inequities and the limits of pursuing teacher equity through departmental regulation

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce D. Baker ◽  
Mark Weber
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
School Districts ◽  
School Finance ◽  
District Level ◽  
School Level ◽  
Teacher Qualifications ◽  
State School ◽  
School Site ◽  
Teacher Salaries ◽  
State Education

New federal regulations (State Plans to Ensure Equitable Access to Excellent Educators) place increased pressure on states and local public school districts to improve their measurement and reporting of gaps in teacher qualifications across schools and the children they serve. Yet a sole focus on resource disparities between schools within a state ignores an important driver of those disparities: district-level spending variations, particularly when accounting for differences in student populations. The analyses herein evaluate connections between district and school level spending measures and teacher equity measures (such as salary competitiveness and staff: student ratios), and specifically whether inequality in “access to excellent educators” at the school level is greater in states where funding inequalities between school districts are greater. We find that district spending variation explains an important, policy relevant share of school staffing expenditures in 13 states. In many states, including Illinois and New York, a nearly 1:1 relationship exists between district spending variation and school site spending variation. In California, Illinois, Louisiana, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia, district spending is positively associated with competitive salary differentials, average teacher salaries, and numbers of certificated staff per 100 pupils. In each of these states, district poverty rates are negatively associated with competitive salary differentials, average teacher salaries and numbers of certified staff per 100 pupils. As such, regulatory intervention without more substantive changes to state school finance systems, addressing district-level inequities, will likely achieve little. Current federal policy pressures state education agencies to report and attempt to regulate inequities that arise because of school finance systems over which those agencies have no direct influence. Our analysis suggests that the administration would be more likely to meet its goals if it attempted to more directly address state school finance system disparities, placing pressure on state legislatures to equitably and adequately fund schools, and following through with the requirement that state-to-district equity provisions translate into district-to-school equity. 

School Funding Advocacy, Grants, Grant Writing, and ASHA's School Finance Committee

2010 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-20
Author(s):  
Patricia Iafrate-Bellini ◽  
Charlette M. Green ◽  
Nancy L. Kuhles
Keyword(s):  
School Finance ◽  
School Funding ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Grant Writing ◽  
Complex Nature ◽  
Service Needs ◽  
Finance Committee ◽  
Funding Sources ◽  
Money Flows ◽  
State And Local

Abstract School-based members of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) seeking successful advocacy for accessing and obtaining additional funds for services and programs must build their efforts upon an understanding of school funding. Demystifying the complex nature of federal, state, and local funding in order to understand how money flows to local speech-language pathology and audiology programs is the first step toward successful advocacy. In this article, Division 16 affiliates will learn about the important role ASHA's School Finance Committee plays in helping ASHA members understand funding and locate funding sources, and will be provided with tips on advocating for money to support professional and student service needs.

The Effects of Campus Shooting on School Finance and Student Composition

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-44
Author(s):  
Lang (Kate) Yang ◽  
Maithreyi Gopalan
Keyword(s):  
Public School ◽  
School Finance ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
The United States ◽  
School Level ◽  
Intergovernmental Transfers ◽  
Capital Projects ◽  
Crowd Out ◽  
Instructional Spending ◽  
Student Composition

Abstract Between 1999 and 2018, 210 shootings have occurred on public school campuses in the United States. The increased need for security and student support may crowd out instructional resources post-shooting. Shootings may also cause students, especially those from socioeconomically advantaged backgrounds, to move away, leading to declines in enrollment. Both changes in the budget allocation and the student composition could exert a negative impact on achievement. First, we examine the effects of campus shootings on public school districts’ revenue, expenditure, debt, and staffing using a long panel of district-year data. Results from event study and difference-in-differences analyses indicate that shootings increase per-pupil spending by $248, which is funded primarily through increased federal transfers. Most spending increases occur in noninstructional functions, such as pupil support services, and capital projects, but they do not crowd out instructional spending. Using school-level data, we show that shootings are followed by a decline in enrollment, driven almost exclusively by reductions in students who do not receive free- or reduced-price lunch. Private schools in the area also experience enrollment drop. In sum, despite the increased intergovernmental transfers, campus shootings reduce the desirability of the community and lead to the exit of relatively well-off families.

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