No Spending without Representation: School Boards and the Racial Gap in Education Finance
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy
vol. 15,
no. 2, May 2023
(pp. 198-235)
Abstract
This paper provides causal evidence that greater minority representation on school boards translates into greater investment in minority students. Focusing on California school boards, I instrument for minority (specifically, Hispanic) representation using random ballot ordering and leverage new data from a statewide capital investment program to capture intradistrict resource allocations. I show that Hispanic board members invest the marginal dollar in high-Hispanic schools within their districts. High-Hispanic schools also exhibit gains in student achievement and decreased teacher turnover. I conclude that enhancing minority representation on school boards could help combat long-standing disparities in education.Citation
Fischer, Brett. 2023. "No Spending without Representation: School Boards and the Racial Gap in Education Finance." American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 15 (2): 198-235. DOI: 10.1257/pol.20200475Additional 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
- J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
There are no comments for this article.
Login to Comment