Comparable Wages, Inflation, and School Finance Equity

2006 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 349-371 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lori L. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
School Districts ◽  
School Finance ◽  
The United States ◽  
Purchasing Power ◽  
Substantial Variation ◽  
Geographic Variations ◽  
Finance Equity ◽  
Cost Of Education ◽  
Equity And Adequacy ◽  
The Cost

A ComparableWage Index (CWI) is an attractive mechanism for measuring geographic variations in the cost of education. A CWImeasures uncontrollable variations in educator pay by observing systematic variations in the earnings of comparable workers who are not educators. Together, the 2000 census and the Occupational Employment Statistics survey support the construction of just such an index. The resulting panel of index values measures wage levels in all parts of the United States from 1997 through 2004 and reveals substantial variation in purchasing power both across school districts and across time. Such inequalities undermine the equity and adequacy goals of school finance formulas. If states were successfully directing additional resources to school districts in high-cost environments, then measured inequality within states should fall when differences in purchasing power are taken into account. Instead, cost adjustment widens the spending gap in all but a handful of states.

How States Fund Education

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ajay Srikanth ◽  
Michael Atzbi ◽  
Bruce D. Baker ◽  
Mark Weber
Keyword(s):  
School Districts ◽  
School Finance ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
The United States ◽  
Policy Recommendations ◽  
Funding Equity ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Using Data ◽  
K 12 ◽  
Funding Disparities

In the United States, the vast majority of funding for K–12 education is provided through state and local governments to school districts. Throughout history, school districts have remained highly segregated both by income/wealth and by race, leading to reduced levels of funding available for higher need districts compared to wealthier districts. The purpose of this chapter is to analyze funding disparities within states and to determine differences between states with respect to funding equity. First, the chapter begins with a discussion of the sources of revenue for education at the state and local levels. Second, it explains the purpose and design of state aid formulas to reduce funding disparities between districts. Third, using data from the School Finance Indicators Database, the chapter calculates funding effort and progressivity indices for each state. Fourth, it provides case studies on two states with more progressive and less progressive funding, New Jersey and Illinois. Finally, the chapter concludes with policy recommendations on how states can improve their school finance systems to provide adequate levels of funding for higher need districts.

The Curious Case of the Missing Tail: Trends Among the Top 1% of School Districts in the United States, 2000–2015

2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (5) ◽  
pp. 312-320
Author(s):  
Matthew Gardner Kelly
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
School Districts ◽  
School Funding ◽  
The United States ◽  
Large Majority ◽  
Resource Concentration ◽  
National School ◽  
Relative Wealth ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Funding Distribution

This article investigates trends in the relative wealth of the richest school districts in the United States between 2000 and 2015. For the purposes of discussion, I focus on the top 1% of districts. I argue that trends in school funding for the richest districts deserve greater attention from education researchers. Districts in the top 1% of the cost-adjusted, national school funding distribution are disproportionately suburban, affluent, and White. The relative wealth of these districts increased sharply (31.59%) between 2000 and 2015. Disaggregating these trends reveals large variation between states. Nevertheless, resource concentration in the top percentile of school districts increased in a large majority of states. These findings cannot be explained by efforts to provide additional educational resources to students with the greatest needs, and they suggest the ways in which the concentration of affluence accompanying growing economic inequality may be changing school funding.

College Acceleration for All? Mapping Racial Gaps in Advanced Placement and Dual Enrollment Participation

2021 ◽  
pp. 000283122199113
Author(s):  
Di Xu ◽  
Sabrina Solanki ◽  
John Fink
Keyword(s):  
School Districts ◽  
Advanced Placement ◽  
Racial Disparity ◽  
Dual Enrollment ◽  
The United States ◽  
Equitable Access ◽  
Geographic Variations ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Racial Gaps ◽  
Enrollment Gaps

This article documents the patterns of White-Black and White-Hispanic enrollment gaps in Advanced Placement (AP) and Dual Enrollment (DE) programs across thousands of school districts in the United States by merging several data sources. We show that the vast majority of districts have racial enrollment gaps in both programs, with wider gaps in AP than DE. Results from fractional regression models indicate that geographic variations in these gaps can be explained by both local and state factors. We also find that district-level resources and state policies that provide greater access to AP and DE are also associated with wider racial enrollment gaps, implying that greater resources may engender racial disparity without adequate efforts to provide equitable access and support for minority students.

scholarly journals The Cost of Education

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 341-385
Author(s):  
Hannah Elsaadi
Keyword(s):  
School Finance ◽  
Property Tax ◽  
School Funding ◽  
District Court ◽  
Finance System ◽  
Cost Of Education ◽  
Definitive Solution ◽  
History Of ◽  
Funding Scheme ◽  
The Cost

This Article will analyze the Texas school finance system, evaluate its challenges, and propose reforms to simplify it. Although the Texas Legislature repeatedly promotes the idea that education is a priority, there is a long history of controversy over many aspects of education, particularly funding. Thus, to fully understand the current funding and legislative dilemma, Part III will analyze the current funding scheme. Part IV will examine the history of the finance system culminating in February 2013 when a Texas District Court ruled the current school finance system is unconstitutional due to claims of adequacy and a finding that the funding process is essentially a statewide property tax. The issues of adequacy, state property tax, and efficiency, as well as specific solutions for each, will be discussed in Part V. Instead of attempting to amend the current funding plan so that it will be constitutional by meeting the former criteria, Part VI advocates abandoning the current funding scheme for something completely different. This Article will not provide or promote a definitive solution to the issue, however, it will prove that the Texas Legislature’s approach to education funding for the last two decades has been unhurried and incomplete. As a result, both schools and students have been seriously and negatively affected by this unhurried trial-and-error system. Thus, instead of trying to fix an already broken system, this Article will emphasize the importance of a major structural change for school funding.

Looking at the Big Picture: School Administrators and Violence Reduction

1997 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 456-479 ◽  
Author(s):  
George J. Petersen
Keyword(s):  
School Districts ◽  
Violence Prevention ◽  
School Violence ◽  
School Environment ◽  
School Administrators ◽  
School Personnel ◽  
The United States ◽  
Site Administrators ◽  
Big Picture ◽  
The Cost

This study investigated district and site administrators’ perceptions of school violence and violence prevention programs in fifteen school districts of various sizes in twelve states located across the United States. The study focused upon: (1) school administrators’ fears about violence, (2) frequency of administrators as victims of violent actions over the past two years, (3) areas in the school environment which pose the greatest risk for violence for students or school personnel, (4) profiles of typical victims and perpetrators of violence, (5) strategies implemented by schools/districts to reduce violence, (6) perceptions regarding which strategies were considered to be the most and least effective in reducing violence, and (7) the cost to school districts for violence prevention. The study concluded by providing a suggested plan of action to remediate and reduce violence in schools.

scholarly journals The Challenge of Defining Equity and Adequacy in State School Finance Systems: A Look at New York's Experience

2005 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 19
Author(s):  
Vidhya Ananthakrishnan
Keyword(s):  
School Districts ◽  
School Finance ◽  
Property Tax ◽  
Local Property ◽  
High Quality ◽  
High Quality Education ◽  
Tax Revenues ◽  
Equity And Adequacy ◽  
School Financing ◽  
Funding Disparities

The substantial reliance on local property tax revenues to finance school systems has led to significant funding disparities between property-rich and property-poor school districts. The recognition of these disparities has spawned decades of litigation in states whose constitutions guarantee a high-quality education. Legislators and judges are often asked to reconcile very different definitions of equity and adequacy, which are the concepts that underpin a high-quality, state-provided education, and are often confounded by attempts to achieve equity and adequacy on a state-wide basis, given the differences in property tax revenues. This article describes the complexities inherent in the concepts of equity and adequacy and examines a long-running attempt to reform New York's school financing methods to ensure that all school districts in the state have an equitable and adequate level of resources.

scholarly journals Adjusted Poverty Measures and the Distribution of Title I Aid: Does Title I Really Make the Rich States Richer?

2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 394-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce D. Baker ◽  
Lori Taylor ◽  
Jesse Levin ◽  
Jay Chambers ◽  
Charles Blankenship
Keyword(s):  
School Districts ◽  
Title I ◽  
Regional Differences ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
The United States ◽  
Skilled Workers ◽  
Cost Of Living ◽  
Geographic Differences ◽  
Funding Formulas ◽  
The Cost

Federal and state governments in the United States make extensive use of student poverty rates in compensatory aid programs like Title I. Unfortunately, the measures of student poverty that drive funding allocations under such programs are biased because they fail to reflect geographic differences in the cost of living. In this study, we construct alternative poverty income thresholds based on regional differences in the wage level for low-skilled workers. We then examine the distribution of Title I revenues after adjusting poverty rates for geographic differences in the cost of living and adjusting Title I revenues for geographic differences in the purchasing power of school districts. Our findings turn conventional wisdom on its head. We find that when we fully adjust for regional differences, Title I funding patterns disproportionately favor rural school districts in low cost-of-living states. We conclude with policy recommendations for revising Title I funding formulas.

Predicting the Cost of Fiscal Equalization in School Finance

1975 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 261-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert W. Gilmer
Keyword(s):  
School Districts ◽  
School Finance ◽  
Estimating Equation ◽  
Educational Services ◽  
Fiscal Equalization ◽  
Finance Reform ◽  
School Finance Reform ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Very High ◽  
Tax Bases

The recent appearance on the national scene of the Serrano and Rodriguez cases served to dramatize one of the most persistent problems of school finance reform–the vast differences between the tax bases per pupil and the ability to provide educational services among school districts in the same state. As these cases have highlighted the issue, and as the presence of these inequities have been more widely recognized, the states have begun to consider reform more seriously. One of the major obstacles to the elimination of these fiscal differentials is the apparent cost. Although intuition would argue for a very high cost, there seems to have been no consistent estimates. This article estimates the cost for Texas. Using an estimating equation for shifts in district expenditure under different tax bases and aid patterns, and solving a system of equations for the fiscal equalization, I have derived the estimates. The results are encouraging as the tax bill for such reform may be less than the previously available estimates would lead us to believe.

Demonstrating Nutrient Cost Gradients: A Brooklyn Case Study

2014 ◽  
Vol 84 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 244-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Karp ◽  
Gary Wong ◽  
Marguerite Orsi
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Energy Content ◽  
Food Selection ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Department ◽  
Micronutrient Deficiencies ◽  
Caloric Density ◽  
Low Income Families ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Introduction: Foods dense in micronutrients are generally more expensive than those with higher energy content. These cost-differentials may put low-income families at risk of diminished micronutrient intake. Objectives: We sought to determine differences in the cost for iron, folate, and choline in foods available for purchase in a low-income community when assessed for energy content and serving size. Methods: Sixty-nine foods listed in the menu plans provided by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for low-income families were considered, in 10 domains. The cost and micronutrient content for-energy and per-serving of these foods were determined for the three micronutrients. Exact Kruskal-Wallis tests were used for comparisons of energy costs; Spearman rho tests for comparisons of micronutrient content. Ninety families were interviewed in a pediatric clinic to assess the impact of food cost on food selection. Results: Significant differences between domains were shown for energy density with both cost-for-energy (p < 0.001) and cost-per-serving (p < 0.05) comparisons. All three micronutrient contents were significantly correlated with cost-for-energy (p < 0.01). Both iron and choline contents were significantly correlated with cost-per-serving (p < 0.05). Of the 90 families, 38 (42 %) worried about food costs; 40 (44 %) had chosen foods of high caloric density in response to that fear, and 29 of 40 families experiencing both worry and making such food selection. Conclusion: Adjustments to USDA meal plans using cost-for-energy analysis showed differentials for both energy and micronutrients. These differentials were reduced using cost-per-serving analysis, but were not eliminated. A substantial proportion of low-income families are vulnerable to micronutrient deficiencies.

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