Education and Long-Run Outcomes: PreK-12
Paper Session
Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM (CST)
- Chair: Corbin Miller, U.S. Department of the Treasury
Does School Spending Pay for Itself? Long-Run Effects on Personal Income
Abstract
Over the past half-century, court-ordered increases in public school spending dramatically changed the level and distribution of school resources in the United States. Recent evidence from surveys suggests that school finance reforms improved students’ short- and long-run outcomes. However, the policy implications remain unclear because, although observed effects are significantly different from zero, we do not know whether the benefits exceed the costs, or whether the internal rate of return exceeds benchmark interest rates. This paper seeks to improve on past cost-benefit estimates by using population-scale longitudinal administrative tax data, which allow us to: (1) measure effects on lifecycle income, with age-specific estimates for each age from 14 to 34, each based on the outcomes for 21 birth cohorts (from 1965-2006); (2) correct for family unobservables and migration that may bias estimates upwards; and (3) correct for mis-measurement of childhood exposures that may bias estimates downwards. We build on past work using reforms to instrument for school spending, and thus provide an independent check on those crucial estimates.The Long-Run Effects of Consequential School Accountability
Abstract
The rise of high-stakes accountability programs was one of the most noticeable changes in the U.S. education system during the 1990s and early 2000s. We measure the impact of these programs on students' long-run outcomes. We find that exposure to accountability modestly but detectably increased educational attainment -- roughly .02 years per year of exposure. Effects on income were modest and insignificant in most specifications. Lastly, if accountability had substantial effects on human capital, treated individuals would be expected to sort into occupations requiring greater use of tested (math and literacy) skills, potentially at the expense of non-tested skills. Instead, we find that accountability had no effect on occupational skill usage. Our results suggest that accountability was more likely beneficial than harmful for students' long-run outcomes, but not transformative.Budget Hawks on the Board: School Boards, Education Finance, and Student Achievement
Abstract
Funding for education in America is spread across multiple levels of government, but financial decision-making is handled by locally elected school boards. During elections, many candidates for board seats run on promises of reforming district finances. I identify such "budget hawks" using natural language processing methods and campaign statements from school board candidates in California. I use a regression discontinuity design to test how district outcomes evolve in the years following the narrow victory of a hawk over a non-hawk. The election of a budget hawk leads to large and prolonged cuts in district spending. Using test score data, I find suggestive evidence that students in these districts exhibit lower rates of testbased proficiency in subsequent years. Heterogeneity analyses show evidence that districts that exhibit higher reductions in spending experience larger test score declines.Discussant(s)
Briana Ballis
,
University of California-Merced
Joshua Hyman
,
Amherst College
Riley Acton
,
Miami University
Jason Baron
,
Duke University
JEL Classifications
- I2 - Education and Research Institutions
- H4 - Publicly Provided Goods