Description/Abstract
This paper breaks new ground in the debate on school finance and equality of per pupil school expenditures. We are able to allocate expenditures per pupil at the *individual* student and family income level. This allows us to examine both student and school district characteristics and to assess several measures of equality of expenditure across the income distribution of parents and by funding sources. We find a surprising degree of equality in the actual amounts expended per child in low- vs. high-income families. But adjusting for student needs to reach equivalent education expenditures results in much greater inequality over the income distribution. Policy implications for school finance and increased equality of educational opportunity are drawn in closing.
Document Type
Working Paper
Date
2004
Keywords
Educational finance, Education, human development, income distribution, migration
Language
English
Series
Working Papers Series
Disciplines
Education Policy
Recommended Citation
Wilson, Kathryn; Lambright, Kristina T.; and Smeeding, Timothy M., "School Finance, Equivalent Educational Expenditure, and Income Distribution: Equal Dollars or Equal Chances for Success?" (2004). Center for Policy Research. 101.
https://surface.syr.edu/cpr/101
Source
Metadata from RePEc
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Additional Information
Harvest from RePEc at http://repec.org