Amy Ellen Schwartz

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Why Do Some Schools Get More and Others Less?An
Examination of School-Level Funding in New York
City
A.E. Schwartz presentation, Research Partnership
for NYC Schools

• Amy Ellen Schwartz
• New York University
• Ross Rubenstein
• Syracuse University
• Leanna Stiefel
• New York University
•  
• October 5, 2007

http//steinhardt.nyu.edu/iesp/
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In 2003-2004, the typical NYC elementary school
budget was roughly 13,000 per pupil

• But
• some schools received as little as 9,000.
• others more than 15,000.
• Why?
• Differences in the needs of students?
• Differences in costs?
• Or is it just unfair and inefficient?

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The Answer Matters

• If differences are driven by differences in the
  needs of students then they may be both fair and
  efficient.
• If they arent, then redistributing resources
  will be critical for improving equity and can
  improve student performance.

5
The Time is Ripe

• NCLB reauthorization focuses attention on
  resources, outcomes and accountability at the
  school level.
• CFE vs. New York State brings similar focus and
  additional state funds to NYC schools.
• NYCDOE is reforming their budget allocation
  processes in their Fair Student Funding (FSF)
  Initiative.

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Outline of Talk

• Background on School Resource Allocation
• Analyses of School Spending in New York City
• Implications for Policy

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Four Lessons from Prior Research

• Disparities in spending across schools within a
  district are common.
• Large districts are more likely to have large
  disparities.
• Schools with poorer children have less
  experienced, less educated and less expensive
  teachers.
• School budgets largely reflect position-based
  formulas and teacher sorting.

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Where does the money come from?

• City, State and Federal funds.
• In 2003-4 the average elementary school budget
  was
• Almost 80 City Taxes and State Operating Aid.
• About 7 from the Federal Title I program that
  targets high poverty schools
• About 13 from myriad categorical grant programs.
  

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Allocation Basics - Teachers

• Teacher positions are allocated based upon
• Enrollment
• Class size maximums (depends on grade level)
• e.g., 100 first grade students would mean 5
  teachers if the district class size max is 20.
• Salaries are determined by district schedule and
  money budgeted to the school depending upon the
  teachers hired.

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How Does Budgeting Teacher Positions Affect
School budgets?

• Schools with higher paid teachers get funding to
  cover those positions schools with lower-paid
  teachers do not receive similar amounts.
• Position-based budgeting concentrates experienced
  teachers in schools where needs are lower.
• Higher staff turnover concentrates new teachers
  in low-performing schools, meaning they have
  lower budgets.

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Advanced Resource Allocation

• Overhead allocations for administration and
  building services
• Specialized formulas target students with special
  needs. E.g. Poor, English Language Learners,
  Learning Disabilities
• Targeted funds based upon school characteristics
  (e.g., school size) or special programs.
• Hold Harmless provisions limit change.

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Empirical Analyses

• Examine the distribution of funding across
  schools
• By source (taxes and state aid, Title I)
• By grade level (elementary vs middle)
• Examine changes over time
• Goal is to shed light on the factors that drive
  disparities and provide a benchmark to gauge the
  impact of policy changes.

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Data

• NYC Department of Education, Annual School
  Reports and School-Based Expenditure Reports,
  2000-01 to 2003-04
• School-level spending variables by source of
  funds
• Key school-level variables on student/school
  needs
• Eligible for free lunch
• Limited English proficient
• Enrollment (school size)
• Resource room and special education
• Recent immigrant
• Student performance percent level 1 fourth and
  eighth grade
• Sample N 911 in 2003-04

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Five Measures of Resources

• 1) Total spending per pupil
• 2) General Education Funding per pupil (includes
  PTSE funds)
• 3) Tax levy and state operating aid - Gen Ed
• 4) Title I Gen Ed
• 5) Other Gen Ed

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R2 0.08 Slope 27.3 n682
16
R2 0.08 Slope 19.9 n682
17
R2 0.01 Slope -5.1 n682
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R2 0.61 Slope 15.6 n682
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R2 0.29 Slope 9.4 n682
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Total Spending
Gen Ed Spending
Tax Levy and State Operating Aid
Other Revenues
Title I Revenues
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Regression Analyses Describe the Determinants of
Spending

• First using only school and student
  characteristics for 2003-04 (Cross-sectional)
• Including Pct Poor, LEP, PTSE and school size
• Next examining change over time
• Between 2002-03 and 2003-04 (Short)
• Between 2000-01 and 2003-04 (Long)

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Poverty Coefficients
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Key Results

• Funding reflects student need
• i.e., a 1 point increase in the pct. PTSE is
  associated with 69 more in funding per pupil
• Higher poverty means more Title I and Other
  funds less Tax Levy/Operating Aid.
• Change matters but the response is sluggish.
• Last years funding is an excellent predictor of
  this years funding
• Much variation is unexplained.

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Weighted Student Funding (WSF)?

• Resources follow the student.
• Allocates dollars and not positions.
• Amount depends upon student needs
  (characteristics) with higher weights given to
  students with greater needs.
• Transparent targeting of resources
• Effectively reduce unexplained variation.

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Cautions

• No adjustments for concentration
• Economies/diseconomies of scale ignored
• Transparent incentives may have unintended
  consequences.
• Getting weights right is critical
• Evidence base is thin.
• Rapid change can be difficult
• Implications for teachers.

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Agenda for Further Research

• We need to know the cost of student needs.
• Should there be a weight for immigrants?
• For student mobility?
• We need to understand (dis)economies of scale.
• We should learn from experience
• Does Title I money get where its intended and
  does it improve student performance?
• What was the impact of the recent changes in
  seniority transfer rules?
• Evaluation of FSF has to start now to study
  implementation and school responses.