The Effect of Charter Schools on Districts’ Student Composition, Costs, and Efficiency: The Case of New York State

Charter schools can influence a school district's costs by reducing economies of scale and by changing the share of high cost students a district serves, but might also increase the district's efficiency through competition. Utilizing data for New York State school districts from 1998/99 to 2013/14, we estimate difference-in-differences models to assess the effect of charter schools on enrollment and student composition. Then, we estimate an expenditure function, using data prior to the charter school program, to measure the costs associated with reaching a given performance standard for students in various need categories and different enrollments. Next, using the entire data set, we run a second expenditure function to determine changes in efficiency associated with charter school entry. We find that charter schools increase the cost of providing education, and that these cost increases are larger than short-run efficiency gains, but are offset by efficiency gains in the long term

UNINTENDED EFFECTS OF CHARTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS

The dissertation is comprised of three essays, which study unintended effects of charter school programs. Chapter 1 evaluates the influence of charter schools on housing values. The dynamics between school quality and housing markets contribute to the isolation of disadvantaged students in low performing school districts. Charter schools reduce the link between residential location and school services, and hence potentially affect both property values and residential sorting. This chapter examines if charter schools influence the differences in housing prices between school districts and neighborhoods. I begin by developing a theoretical model identifying how charter schools influence school quality and how these changes potentially affect housing prices. Utilizing housing sale data for Upstate New York between 2000 and 2010, I estimate models comparing changes in housing price differences between school districts and neighborhoods. I find that charter schools do not influence the gap in housing prices between districts but affect the differences in housing values between high and low income neighborhoods in districts with charter schools. Chapter 2 analyzes the location of charter schools in New York, Florida, North Carolina, Michigan, and Ohio. I begin by describing the finance, accountability, and authorizer policies in each state. Then, I derive location and enrollment incentives created by these policies. Estimated negative binomial models reveal consistency between location patterns and finance provisions. In states where charter school payments vary with district location, charter schools are more likely to locate in districts with high expenditures holding cost and performance constant. However, in states where charter school payments do not vary with district location, charter school location is not influenced by district expenditures. Compensations for enrolling disadvantaged students create location and enrollment incentives if they are sufficient enough to cover the costs of educating these students. Chapter 3 examines how charter schools influence school district efficiency. Charter school opponents and proponents have been arguing for a long time about the effect of charter schools on district efficiency with very opposing views on the subject. Utilizing data for all New York State school districts from 1998 to 2009, I find that charter schools increase school district efficiency holding cost factors and district performance constant. The magnitude of the effect differs depending on the number of students enrolled in charter schools. The effect ranges between a 1.1 and 3.4 percent decrease in per pupil expenditures for enrollments between 50 and 5000 charter school students respectively. The effect is driven by efficiency gains in the provision of education for students in traditional public schools. The results are confirmed by several falsification tests

Relações Intergrupais em Escolas Integradas: Um breve olhar sobre as escolas Magnet

The frequency and quality of intergroup contact within racially and ethnically diverse schools has potentially important implications for the achievement of desegregation goals. The analyses presented here use survey data to assess intergroup contact within a sample of ten interdistrict magnet schools in Connecticut. Findings indicate frequent intergroup interactions within interdistrict magnet schools, but also that the perceived quality of intergroup relations differs across racial groups and both the frequency and quality of intergroup contact varies considerably across schools. Students who report higher quality intergroup relations in their school also tend to report more positive academic environments and more positive attitudes towards other groups. Together these findings indicate that attention must be paid to intergroup relations within diverse schools if the goals of integrated schooling are to be realized.La frecuencia y la calidad del contacto entre grupos en las escuelas con diversidad racial y étnica tienen implicaciones potencialmente importantes para lograr los objetivos de la integración. Los análisis presentados aquí utilizan datos de encuestas para evaluar el contacto intergrupal con un grupo de diez escuelas magnet interdistritales en Connecticut. Los resultados indican que las interacciones entre grupos son comunes dentro de las escuelas magnet entre distritos, y también que la calidad de las relaciones intergrupales entre los grupos raciales difiere y que tanto la frecuencia y la calidad de contacto intergrupal, varían considerablemente entre las escuelas. Los estudiantes que señalan una mayor calidad de las relaciones intergrupales en las escuelas también suelen señalar ambientes académicos más positivos y mejores actitudes positivas hacia otros grupos. En conjunto, estos resultados indican que se debe prestar atención a las relaciones intergrupales en las escuelas con diversidad racial y étnica si se tiene la intención de llevar a cabo los objetivos del sistema educativo integrado.A frequência e a qualidade do contato intergrupal em escolas com diversidade racial e étnica têm implicações potencialmente importantes na concretização dos objetivos de integração. As análises aqui apresentadas usam dados de pesquisa para avaliar o contato intergrupal numa amostra de dez escolas Magnet Interdistritais em Connecticut. Os resultados indicam que as interações intergrupais são frequentes dentro das escolas Magnet Interdistritais, mas também que a qualidade das relações intergrupais difere entre os grupos raciais e que ambas, a frequência e a qualidade do contacto intergrupal, variam consideravelmente entre escolas. Os estudantes que enunciam uma qualidade mais elevada das relações intergrupais nas suas escolas também tendem a enunciar mais ambientes académicos positivos e mais atitudes positivas em relação a outros grupos. Em conjunto, estes resultados indicam que se deve prestar atenção às relações intergrupais nas escolas com diversidade racial e étnica caso se pretendam realizar os objetivos da escolarização integrad

The effect of economic downturns on state budgets: a counterfactual analysis of the great recession

I propose a novel method to estimate the effect of recessions on government finances. Using the Great Recession and state budgets as an empirical example, I find large and prolonged budget cuts, but also increases in transfers to populations in need. The proposed method can be easily transferred to other recessions, different spending categories, and local governments receiving state transfers, such as school districts

The Influence of Finance Policies on Charter School Supply Decisions in Five States

This paper tests if charter school finance policies influence charter school location. I create a theoretical framework describing the location incentives created by charter school finance provisions and test their relevance empirically by applying a two-step approach consisting of negative binomial models and Wald tests. Using data from New York, North Carolina, Florida, Michigan, and Ohio, I provide evidence that states’ finance provisions are an important policy lever impacting charter school location. Several robustness checks corroborate the initial results

Spatial Noise-Field Control With Online Secondary Path Modeling: A Wave-Domain Approach

Due to strong interchannel interference in multichannel active noise control (ANC), there are fundamental problems associated with the filter adaptation and online secondary path modeling remains a major challenge. This paper proposes a wave-domain adaptation algorithm for multichannel ANC with online secondary path modelling to cancel tonal noise over an extended region of two-dimensional plane in a reverberant room. The design is based on exploiting the diagonal-dominance property of the secondary path in the wave domain. The proposed wave-domain secondary path model is applicable to both concentric and nonconcentric circular loudspeakers and microphone array placement, and is also robust against array positioning errors. Normalized least mean squares-type algorithms are adopted for adaptive feedback control. Computational complexity is analyzed and compared with the conventional time-domain and frequency-domain multichannel ANCs. Through simulation-based verification in comparison with existing methods, the proposed algorithm demonstrates more efficient adaptation with low-level auxiliary noise.DP14010341

The Impact of Government Contracting Out on Spending: The Case of Public Education in New Orleans

In this study, we start with developing a theoretical framework incorporating theories from the contracting literature and adapt them to the unusual case of nonprofit charter schools, which yields several seemingly novel theoretical insights. In contrast to earlier studies, we use a quasi-experimental research design, the synthetic control group approach, to test the impact of contracting on spending for public schooling in New Orleans. Using detailed information on spending, our empirical analysis shows that contracting increases total operating spending. The additional funds were used to increase administrative spending, including both the number and salaries of administrators. Fewer resources were devoted to instruction. Although the number of teachers was largely unchanged, per-teacher salaries and benefits dropped. We utilize the results to complement the theory of contracting with regard to outsourcing based on funding formulas and the mix of inputs chosen by contractors

Fiscal Shocks, Budgetary Pressures, and Public Education Expenditure Stabilization

Fiscal shocks exert budgetary pressures on school districts and constrain their ability to provide public education. An emerging literature examines the role of fiscal reserves to mitigate expenditure cuts in school districts. In the U.S. context, this article provides evidence that Kentucky school districts from school years 2001–2002 to 2013–2014 drained fiscal reserves and cut expenditures in response to revenue decreases. Further, school districts drained fiscal reserves to stabilize non-instructional expenditures, which have fixed costs. Collectively, the findings presented in this article build evidence that school districts strategically respond to budgetary pressures