IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/fip/fedbwp/88729.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Estimating the Cost Function of Connecticut Public K–12 Education: Implications for Inequity and Inadequacy in School Spending

Author

Listed:
  • Bo Zhao

Abstract

Facing legal challenges and public pressures, Connecticut needs an objective and rigorous study of its public education costs. This study is the first to estimate the cost function of Connecticut public K–12 education and to evaluate the equity and the adequacy in the state’s school spending based on regression-estimated education costs. It finds large disparities across districts in education costs and cost-adjusted spending. Districts with the largest enrollments, the highest school-age-child-poverty rates, or the least amount of property wealth, on average, have the highest costs and the lowest cost-adjusted spending. A large percentage of the state’s public school students are enrolled in districts where spending is inadequate relative to the predicted cost of achieving a common student performance target, which contributes to student underperformance. Thus, school districts, especially the high-cost ones, need a large amount of additional spending to improve student performance. The research approach used in this paper can be generalized and applied to other states.

Suggested Citation

  • Bo Zhao, 2020. "Estimating the Cost Function of Connecticut Public K–12 Education: Implications for Inequity and Inadequacy in School Spending," Working Papers 20-6, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedbwp:88729
    DOI: 10.29412/res.wp.2020.06
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.bostonfed.org/publications/research-department-working-paper/2020/estimating-the-cost-function-of-connecticut-public-k-12-education.aspx
    File Function: Summary
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.bostonfed.org/-/media/Documents/Workingpapers/PDF/2020/wp2006.pdf
    File Function: Full text
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.29412/res.wp.2020.06?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Thomas J. Kane & Douglas O. Staiger, 2002. "The Promise and Pitfalls of Using Imprecise School Accountability Measures," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 16(4), pages 91-114, Fall.
    2. William Duncombe & John Yinger, 2007. "Does School District Consolidation Cut Costs?," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 2(4), pages 341-375, September.
    3. Gigliotti, Philip & Sorensen, Lucy C., 2018. "Educational resources and student achievement: Evidence from the Save Harmless provision in New York State," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 167-182.
    4. Hilber, Christian A.L. & Mayer, Christopher, 2009. "Why do households without children support local public schools? Linking house price capitalization to school spending," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 74-90, January.
    5. Jennifer Imazeki, 2008. "Assessing the Costs of Adequacy in California Public Schools: A Cost Function Approach," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 3(1), pages 90-108, January.
    6. Joydeep Roy, 2011. "Impact of School Finance Reform on Resource Equalization and Academic Performance: Evidence from Michigan," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 6(2), pages 137-167, April.
    7. Card, David & Payne, A. Abigail, 2002. "School finance reform, the distribution of school spending, and the distribution of student test scores," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(1), pages 49-82, January.
    8. Chaudhary, Latika, 2009. "Education inputs, student performance and school finance reform in Michigan," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 90-98, February.
    9. Downes, Thomas A. & Pogue, Thomas F., 1994. "Adjusting School Aid Formulas for the Higher Cost of Educating Disadvantaged Students," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 47(1), pages 89-110, March.
    10. Deke, John, 2003. "A study of the impact of public school spending on postsecondary educational attainment using statewide school district refinancing in Kansas," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 275-284, June.
    11. Duncombe, William & Yinger, John, 2000. "Financing higher student performance standards: the case of New York State," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 363-386, October.
    12. Jonathan Guryan, 2001. "Does Money Matter? Regression-Discontinuity Estimates from Education Finance Reform in Massachusetts," NBER Working Papers 8269, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. C. Kirabo Jackson & Rucker C. Johnson & Claudia Persico, 2016. "The Effects of School Spending on Educational and Economic Outcomes: Evidence from School Finance Reforms," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 131(1), pages 157-218.
    14. Bo Zhao, 2020. "How to Design a State Education Aid Formula That Is Equitable, Adequate, and Politically Feasible: The Case of Connecticut," Working Papers 21-1, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
    15. Duncombe, William & Yinger, John, 1998. "School Finance Reform: Aid Formulas and Equity Objectives," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 51(n. 2), pages 239-62, June.
    16. Caroline M. Hoxby, 2000. "Does Competition among Public Schools Benefit Students and Taxpayers?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(5), pages 1209-1238, December.
    17. Downes, Thomas A. & Pogue, Thomas F., 1994. "Adjusting School Aid Formulas for the Higher Cost of Educating Disadvantaged Students," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 47(1), pages 89-110, March.
    18. William Duncombe & John Yinger, 1997. "Why is it so hard to help central city schools?," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(1), pages 85-113.
    19. Joshua Hyman, 2017. "Does Money Matter in the Long Run? Effects of School Spending on Educational Attainment," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 9(4), pages 256-280, November.
    20. Andrew Reschovsky & Jennifer Imazeki, 2003. "Let No Child Be Left Behind: Determining the Cost of Improving Student Performance," Public Finance Review, , vol. 31(3), pages 263-290, May.
    21. Henry Kinnucan & Yuqing Zheng & Gerald Brehmer, 2006. "State Aid and Student Performance: A Supply-Demand Analysis," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(4), pages 487-509.
    22. Imazeki, Jennifer & Reschovsky, Andrew, 2004. "Is No Child Left Behind an Un (Or Under) Funded Federal Mandate? Evidence From Texas," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 57(3), pages 571-588, September.
    23. Jennifer Imazeki & Andrew Reschovsky, 2006. "Does No Child Left Behind Place a Fiscal Burden on States? Evidence from Texas," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 1(2), pages 217-246, April.
    24. Andrews, Matthew & Duncombe, William & Yinger, John, 2002. "Revisiting economies of size in American education: are we any closer to a consensus?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 245-262, June.
    25. Duncombe, William & Yinger, John, 1998. "School Finance Reform: Aid Formulas and Equity Objectives," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 51(2), pages 239-262, June.
    26. repec:mpr:mprres:3557 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nicholas Chiumenti & Bo Zhao, 2020. "Measuring Disparities in Cost and Spending across Connecticut School Districts," New England Public Policy Center Research Report 20-2, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bo Zhao, 2020. "How to Design a State Education Aid Formula That Is Equitable, Adequate, and Politically Feasible: The Case of Connecticut," Working Papers 21-1, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
    2. Buerger, Christian & Bifulco, Robert, 2019. "The effect of charter schools on districts’ student composition, costs, and efficiency: The case of New York state," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 61-72.
    3. Kreisman, Daniel & Steinberg, Matthew P., 2019. "The effect of increased funding on student achievement: Evidence from Texas's small district adjustment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 118-141.
    4. Duncombe, William & Yinger, John, 2005. "How much more does a disadvantaged student cost?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 513-532, October.
    5. Gigliotti, Philip & Sorensen, Lucy C., 2018. "Educational resources and student achievement: Evidence from the Save Harmless provision in New York State," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 167-182.
    6. Tae Ho Eom & William Duncombe & Phuong Nguyen-Hoang & John Yinger, 2014. "The Unintended Consequences of Property Tax Relief: New York’s STAR Program," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 9(4), pages 446-480, October.
    7. William Duncombe & John Yinger, 2011. "Making do: state constraints and local responses in California’s education finance system," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 18(3), pages 337-368, June.
    8. Duncombe, William & Yinger, John, 2000. "Financing higher student performance standards: the case of New York State," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 363-386, October.
    9. Eric Brunner & Joshua Hyman & Andrew Ju, 2020. "School Finance Reforms, Teachers' Unions, and the Allocation of School Resources," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 102(3), pages 473-489, July.
    10. Kalyan Chakraborty & John Poggio, 2008. "Efficiency and Equity in School Funding: A Case Study for Kansas," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 14(2), pages 228-241, May.
    11. Michah W. Rothbart, 2020. "Does School Finance Reform Reduce the Race Gap in School Funding?," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 15(4), pages 675-707, Fall.
    12. Sungoh Kwon, 2017. "Does Public School Spending Raise Intergenerational Mobility?: Evidence from U.S. School Finance Reforms," Working papers 2017-06, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics.
    13. repec:kap:iaecre:v:14:y:2008:i:2:p:228-241 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. María Orduz, 2022. "Effect of educational spending on academic performance under different institutional arrangements," Documentos CEDE 20224, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    15. repec:max:cprpbr:28 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Phuong Nguyen-Hoang & Ryan Yeung & Alexander Bogin, 2014. "No Base Left Behind," Public Finance Review, , vol. 42(4), pages 439-465, July.
    17. Phuong Nguyen-Hoang, 2014. "Tax Increment Financing and Education Expenditures: The Case of Iowa," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 9(4), pages 515-540, October.
    18. Maria Marta Ferreyra, 2009. "An Empirical Framework for Large-Scale Policy Analysis, with an Application to School Finance Reform in Michigan," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 1(1), pages 147-180, February.
    19. C. Kirabo Jackson, 2018. "Does School Spending Matter? The New Literature on an Old Question," NBER Working Papers 25368, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Joshua Hyman, 2017. "Does Money Matter in the Long Run? Effects of School Spending on Educational Attainment," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 9(4), pages 256-280, November.
    21. Bass, Brittany, 2021. "The effect of technology funding on school-level student proficiency," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    22. Timothy J. Gronberg & Dennis W. Jansen & Mustafa U. Karakaplan & Lori L. Taylor, 2015. "School district consolidation: Market concentration and the scale‐efficiency tradeoff," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 82(2), pages 580-597, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    cost function; education costs; school spending; equity in education finance; adequacy in education finance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H75 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Government: Health, Education, and Welfare
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance; Financial Aid
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:fip:fedbwp:88729. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Spozio (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/frbbous.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.