School Finance Reforms, Teachers' Unions, and the Allocation of School Resources

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Brunner, Eric; Hyman, Joshua; Ju, Andrew
• 署名单位: University of Connecticut; Amherst College; Jacksonville University
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0034-6535
• DOI: 10.1162/rest_a_00828
• 发表日期: 2020-07
• 页码: 473-489
• 关键词: federal-grants

摘要

School finance reforms caused some of the most dramatic increases in intergovernmental aid from states to local governments in U.S. history. We examine whether teachers' unions affected the fraction of reform-induced state aid that passed through to local spending and the allocation of these funds. Districts with strong teachers' unions increased spending nearly dollar-for-dollar with state aid and spent the funds primarily on teacher compensation. Districts with weak unions used aid primarily for property tax relief and spent remaining funds on hiring new teachers. The greater expenditure increases in strong union districts led to larger increases in student achievement.