Public Safety vs. Education Expenditure: Which Is Associated With Better Outcomes?

• In Event: Posters II

Abstract

U.S. crime rates have dropped substantively since the 1990s. At the same time, government funding on public safety has increased dramatically while spending on public education has been cut. Given that education is associated with reduced crime, insufficient government spending on education may have a negative impact on both educational and public safety outcomes. Very little research, however, has studied the relationship between public safety spending, education spending, and outcomes in each area.
Using 20-year State and Local Government Finances data, we explored: 1) state and regional variations in spending; 2) the relationship between public safety and education spending; and 3) the relationship between the two types of spending and outcomes in each area. While education accounted for a higher percentage of budgets across states, we found a negative correlation between the two types of spending. Interestingly, increased public safety spending was associated with higher crime rates and worse educational outcomes, while increased education spending was associated with lower crime rates and better educational outcomes. These findings suggest that money spent on education may be money better spent, although additional research is needed to investigate the extent to which these outcomes drive and are driven by governmental expenditure.

Authors

• Qian Zhang, CUNY Institute for State and Local Governance

• Victoria Z. Lawson, CUNY Institute for State and Local Governance

• Besiki Luka Kutateladze, CUNY Institute for State and Local Governance