Abstract
Local and state governments dedicate a large portion of their budgets to public school funding, but a critical analysis of their expenditure has never been conducted. The amount of funding set towards education is dependent on the government’s allocated resources which is dependent on the accumulation of taxpayer money. In cases such as Serrano vs. Priest and Rodriguez vs. San Antonio (1971), it was determined that “education is a responsibility of the state government and held that local expenditures on education may not be a function of the taxable wealth of the local community” (Feldstein 1975). Because each state government is independently determining the amount of money set towards education, each state has a different budget which is based on the needs and composition of each population. The money from the budget is split between teacher payroll salaries and nonpayroll spending
In a study of demographic structure on public education, it was suggested that communities composed of elderly residents have smaller education budgets with less money allocated per student (Poterba 1997). Therefore, the composition of a community has an ability to control students’ funding, however, limited research has been conducted. A majority of the information available focuses on the achievement gap in schools which exists between “minority and disadvantaged students and their white counterparts” ( Ladson-Billings 2006). Further analysis of the matter determined that socioeconomic status might not be the underlying cause of this disparity in academic achievement. Even a comparison of standardized test scores of African Americans, Latinos, and Whites at similar income levels showed a gap (Ladson-Billings 2006). Is it possible that the root of the problem is the education budget, and what factors influence how much money will be allocated per state?
Questions
Through this project, I intend to answer how regionality and party affiliation of a state influences the state education budget? I hypothesize that the northern regions and states with democratic affiliaitons will have the largest education budgets based on trends I have noticed in the news.
Location
My analysis of the education budget was conducted on a state and regional level. The disparity between education budgets across states vs regions has not been extensively studied, but I intend to use online data sets to draw conclusions. The Urban Institute has an extensive amount of data about state education funding.
Methods
The main strategy for data collection was to use a data sets provided by the US Census Bureau , which released data about education finances for fiscal year 2015 documenting education budgets for each state. I also used data about US regions and data from the Gallup Daily Tracking poll about political party affiliations . I tidied and merged the data from my various sources, then used ggplots to understand trends and draw conclusions about the relationship between regionality and party affiliation on the level of education funding.
Results
1. Total Education Budget by State
2. Average Education Budget by Region
3. Education Budget per Student by State
4. Average Education Budget per Student by Region
5. Education Budget for each State by Political Party Affiliation
6. Average Education Budget by Political Party Affiliation
7. Average Education Budget per Student for each Region by Political Party Affiliation
Analysis
Based on visual representations of education budgets by state, a majority of larger education budgets are found in the midwest and northeast. In southern and western states, a majority of the state education budgets fall below $20 million and $10 million, respectively. However, it should be noted that calculation of average education budgets indicated that the Northeast and South spent the most money on average, with $17 million and $12 million, respectively.
However, it should be noted that Texas and California have larger than average state education budegts compared to their regional average, which could possibly be tied to their large state size and therefore large population size. In order to determine, the effect of population on state education budget, I calculated the money spent per student on education. The calculation of education budget per student showed that California and Texas were both on par with the regional averages. Southern states spent an average of $12.50 per student (Texas spent $11.07), while western states spent an average of $12.68 per student (California spent $12.12). The average education budget per student showed the Northeast spent $19.13 per student, while the South and West spent $12.50 and $12.68, respectively.
By joining education budget data with political affiliation datam, it was evident that states and regions with democratic affiliations showed the largest education budgets. The average education budget in states that identified as strong democratics was approximately $22 million, whereas, states that identified as strongly republican spent $4 million. Political party affiliation, rather than location, suggested the strongest correlation to state education budget. I believe that political party affiliation plays a big role on education budget based on political agendas driving education funding.
Works Cited
Peer-Reviewed Sources
1. Feldstein, M.S. (1975). Wealth neutrality and local choice in public education. The American Economic Review, 65(1). 75-89.
2. Ladson-Billings, G. (2006). From the achievement gap to the education debt: understanding achievement in U.S. schools. Educational Researcher, 35(7). 3-12.
3. Poterba, J. M. (1997). Demographic structure and the political economy of public education. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 16(1). 48-66.
Data Sources