Does Progressive Finance Alter School Organizations and Raise Achievement? The Case of Los Angeles

• In Event: Fiscal Issues in Pre-K–16 Education

Abstract

State finance reforms that raised per-pupil spending have elevated achievement of disadvantaged students over the past half-century. But we know little about how finance infusions operate to alter teacher staffing or the curricular structure of schools. We find that $1.1 billion in new funding – arriving to Los Angeles high schools after California enacted a weighted-pupil formula in 2013-14 – led schools to rely more on novice and probationary teachers. Schools with greater spending gains tended to assign the inexperienced teachers to English-learners and came to host falling shares of courses that qualified graduates for college admission. Gaps in achievement in math and English-language arts along lines of EL or economic status widened in schools where spending climbed.

Authors

• JoonHo Lee, The University of Alabama

• Bruce Fuller, University of California - Berkeley