American Economic Journal:
Applied Economics
ISSN 1945-7782 (Print) | ISSN 1945-7790 (Online)
School Finance Reform and the Distribution of Student Achievement
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
vol. 10,
no. 2, April 2018
(pp. 1–26)
(Complimentary)
Abstract
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.Citation
Lafortune, Julien, Jesse Rothstein, and Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach. 2018. "School Finance Reform and the Distribution of Student Achievement." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 10 (2): 1–26. DOI: 10.1257/app.20160567Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- H75 State and Local Government: Health; Education; Welfare; Public Pensions
- I21 Analysis of Education
- I22 Educational Finance; Financial Aid
- I24 Education and Inequality
- I28 Education: Government Policy
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