Collaborative Research: "The Impact of Education Finance Equalization on Students, Teachers, Schools, and State Governments"

本研究分析了学校财政改革中一些相互关联的问题。该项目的第一部分继续研究法院强制改革，但在这项工作中，重点从法院对美元分配的影响转移到成功的学校财务诉讼的实际后果。这一部分有三个部分，它们都有一个共同的主题：教育财政改革对学校和学生的影响是什么？首先，该项目着眼于法院命令改革对私立学校需求的影响。将1970年、1980年和1990年人口普查的人口统计数据与1972年、1982年和1992年政府普查的学校资金数据进行比较，就有可能看到私立学校的入学人数随着学校因财政改革而获得更多资金而发生的变化。观察的单位是地区。我们的数据集的面板性质使调查人员能够消除他们对地区间永久差异影响的估计。第二个问题是：学校如何处理法院强制改革后收到的钱？他们会降低师生比例吗？增加教师工资？聘请受过更好教育、更有经验的教师？扩大课程设置？增加电脑的使用？为了解决这些问题，该研究使用了学校和人员调查以及1988年全国教育纵向调查的共同核心数据的独特匹配。第三，对肯塔基州的金融改革进行了个案研究。1989年，肯塔基州最高法院在Rose v The Council for Better Education， Inc.一案中做出了影响深远的裁决，认为整个州教育体系的治理、课程以及财政都是违宪的。项目的这一部分包括对罗斯事件后肯塔基州经历的仔细分析。该项目还包括两个超越法院强制改革的关于学校财政的研究项目。其一是女性劳动力市场机会扩大的影响。有一段时间，教师是少数几个欢迎女性的职业之一，因此学校付给教师的工资远远低于他们的价值。虽然职业隔离仍然存在，但女性现在在劳动力市场上比以前有更多的选择。因此，教育财政系统将不得不筹集额外的资金，以吸引有能力的人来教书。这部分研究将研究一个假设，即教师工资停滞不前和女性获得新机会的结合可能导致进入教师职业的人员质量显著下降。另一个项目是财政联邦制、人口结构和教育需求。此前的研究发现，对公立学校的支持与65岁及以上人口比例呈负相关。该项目将分析人口老龄化和中央集权增加对公共教育支出的相互影响。这项工作将不同于过去的努力，因为它将考虑到人口老龄化对学校支出的影响在一定程度上取决于地方政府的组织和国家在教育中的作用。

This research analyzes s a number of interrelated issues in school finance reform. The first part of the project continues a study of court mandated reform, but in this work the focus shifts from the impact of the courts on the distribution of dollars to the real consequences of successful school finance litigation. This part has three components, all of which share a common theme: what are the consequences of education finance reform for schools and students? First, the project looks at the impact of court ordered reform on the demand for private schools. Using matches of demographic data from the 1970, 1980, and 1990 Census of Population with school funding data from the 1972, 1982, and 1992 Census of Governments, it is possible to look at how private school enrollment changes as schools receive more funds because of finance reform. The unit of observation is the district. The panel nature of our data set allows the investigators to purge their estimates of the effects of permanent differences across districts. Second, the question is asked: what do schools do with the money they receive as a result court mandated reform? Do they lower teacher pupil ratios? Increase teacher salaries? Hire better educated, more experienced teachers? Expand course offerings? Increase use of computers? To address these questions, the study uses unique matches of the Common Core of Data to both the Schools and Staffing Survey and the 1988 National Educational Longitudinal Survey. Third, a case study is undertaken of finance reform in Kentucky. The Kentucky Supreme Court's 1989 decision in Rose v The Council for Better Education, Inc. was far reaching, holding that the entire state education system governance and curriculum as well as finance was unconstitutional. This part of the project involves a careful analysis of the Kentucky experience in the aftermath of Rose. This project also includes two research projects on school finance that go beyond court mandated reform. One is the impact of expanding labor market opportunities for women. At one time, teaching was one of the few occupations that welcomed women, and as a consequence schools could pay teachers far less than they were worth. While occupation segregation persists, women now have more options in the labor market than they once did. Consequently, the education finance system will have to raise additional funds in order to attract capable people to teaching. This part of research will study the hypothesis that the combination of stagnant wages for teachers and new opportunities for women may lead to a significant decline in the quality of people entering the teaching profession. The other project is fiscal federalism, demographics, and the demand for education. Previous research has found that support for public schools is negatively correlated with the fraction of the population that is 65 and older. The project will analyze the impact of the interaction of the aging population and increased centralization on public spending for education. This work will differ from past efforts in that it will allow for the possibility that the influence of an aging population on school spending depends in part on the organization of local government and the state's role in education.