Southern Hospitality: Democracy and School Finance Policy Praxis in Racist America

• In Event: Equitable Allocation of School Funding

Abstract

Funding disparity impacts student’s long-term outcomes in schools and in their community. The present political climate has prioritized school defunding often at the intersection of political ideology. This study examines the potential for school finance to create spaces that decrease democratic participation through school funding disparity. We use a panel set of data that combines NCES and Census data from 2000 to 2018 to explore the patterns of school funding disparity in nine southern states. We find racial/ethnic make-up do interact with specific funding variables so that districts with higher percentages of minoritized students are at a disadvantage financially. We also find that states may be over-relying on local and federal funds to maintain funding levels despite increases in cost.

Authors

• David Osworth, University of South Carolina
  Presenting Author

• David G. Martinez, University of South Carolina
  Presenting Author

• David S. Knight, University of Washington
  Non-Presenting Author

• Julian Vasquez Heilig, Western Michigan University
  Non-Presenting Author