IES Predoctoral Program Seminar: Dr. Leah L. Jones

The University of Pennsylvania Predoctoral Training Program in Interdisciplinary Research Methods for Field-based Research in Education, sponsored by the Institute for Education Sciences (IES), welcomes Dr. Leah L. Jones to our weekly seminar series.

Race, Partisan Communities, and School District Budgets: How do Partisan Communities Collect and Allocate School Resources?
Presented by Dr. Leah L. Jones, Postdoctoral Fellow in Education Policy, Penn GSE

Democrats are generally thought of as more supportive of education spending than Republicans, but is this partisan view reflected in the amount of money local residents contribute to school budgets through local taxes? Given that nearly half of K-12 education revenue is funded by local taxes, this paper assesses the association of race, partisanship, and local education revenue. Using an original data set of more than 180 million registered voters that geographically maps them to their respective state and local school district, the author found that communities where the majority of registered voters identified as Republican as opposed to Democrat contributed more money per-pupil to K-12 education. Education funding, however, was associated with the racial composition of the school district. As the percent of racial minority students increased, the financial commitment to education funding decreased in school districts with more registered Republican voters but increased in communities with more registered Democrat voters. These findings provide evidence that spatial and political differences can be a source of the unequal collection and allocation of school district resources. 

More information
The IES Predoctoral Program’s weekly seminar series connects program fellows and affiliates to scholars and practitioners who engage in educational research and the development of research methods.

Seminars are likely of interest to doctoral students and faculty. If you are interested in attending, please email Melanie Bahti.