The Effect of School Finance Reforms on Homicide Victimization of Black Males

• In Event: Reducing Homicide and Gun Violence: Evidence on Schools, Jobs, and Community Strategies

Abstract

This paper evaluates state school finance reforms as homicide reduction policy in the United States. Exploiting differential timing of Supreme Court decisions to overhaul public school systems, identification stems from school spending increases that are orthogonal to local public spending for police. We show that school finance reforms decrease homicide rates 8-15% for Black males 15-24, and have no effect on homicide rates for White males in treated counties. We find similar patterns for Black men in older age groups as compared to White peers. The headline finding is in part explained by post-reform sorting that shrinks Black population shares and raises house prices in neighborhoods targeted by reforms. Our results position decreased homicide exposure for Black men as a massive social benefit of increased public school investment.

This project fills a key research gap by estimating the causal effect of school finance reforms on homicide victimization, with a focus on racial disparities and community-level exposure to violence. We will propel forward the motivating theory of change in that both SFR byproducts—improving schools and changing neighborhood demographics—have the potential to reduce violent crime victimization among young males. In addition, we investigate whether state transfers to local governments for public schools create fiscal spillovers for other services to offset violent crime.

A central and unresolved policy question this project explores is whether large-scale social policy interventions can reduce violent crime more effectively than traditional criminal justice approaches. Despite decades of expansion in policing and incarceration, homicide victimization rates for young Black males remain persistently elevated, suggesting that criminal justice policies alone have been insufficient to address underlying disparities in community safety. In contrast, our preliminary results show that school finance reforms—an intervention outside the criminal justice system—reduce homicide victimization among young Black males, with potential spillover effects for older Black males as well.

Authors

• Kenneth Whaley, University of South Florida
  Non-Presenting Co-Author

• Monique Elaine Davis, W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research
  Presenting Author