Political Economy Of Public Education Finance

Political Economy of Public Education Finance takes a unique approach in examining distribution of public education spending across urban school districts in the USA. It provides a thorough and rigorous quantitative examination of the joint roles of school choice and political institutions in inequity in school district spending in the USA. This book additionally provides conceptual and empirical treatment to a topic within the vast school choice scholarship that has been studied the least so far: competition among school districts in the urban regional market. The author further offers insight into the role of political institutions in ensuring equity in public school spending. These institutions provide critical leadership in managing inter-school district competition in the regional context. Since equity in school finance is the outcome of interest in this book, it includes necessary and sufficient attention to the topic too.

This book analyzes the political economy of higher education finance across a range of OECD countries, exploring why some students pay extortionate tuition fees whilst for others their education is free. What are the redistributional consequences of these different tuition-subsidy systems? Analysing the variety of existing systems, Garritzmann shows that across the advanced democracies “Four Worlds of Student Finance” exist. Historically, however, all countries’ higher education systems looked very much alike in the 1940s. The book develops a theoretical model, the Time-Sensitive Partisan Theory, to explain why countries have evolved from a similar historical starting point to today’s very distinct Four Worlds. The empirical analyses combine a wide variety of qualitative and quantitative evidence, studying higher education policies in all advanced democracies from 1945-2015.

There is a long-standing difference amongst public economists between those who think that collective choice must be formally acknowledged, and those who derive their policy recommendations from a social planning framework in which politics plays no role. The purpose of this book is to contribute to a meaningful dialogue between these two groups, in the belief that the future of both political economy and of normative public finance lies somewhere between the two approaches. Some of the specific questions addressed in the book include: does public finance need political economy? Should collective choice play a role in the standard of reference used in normative public finance? What is a 'failure' in a non-market or policy process? And what have we learned about the theory and practice of public finance from three decades of empirical research on public choice? The book also provides a practitioner's view of the political economy of redistribution.

This book offers a comprehensive and accessible treatment of recent academic and policy studies of basic education in South Asia.

A theoretical framework for analyzing the complex relationship of education, growth, and income distribution. The dominant role played by the state in the financing, regulation, and provision of primary and secondary education reflects the widely-held belief that education is necessary for personal and societal well-being. The economic organization of education depends on political as well as market mechanisms to resolve issues that arise because of contrasting views on such matters as income inequality, social mobility, and diversity. This book provides the theoretical framework necessary for understanding the political economy of education—the complex relationship of education, economic growth, and income distribution—and for formulating effective policies to improve the financing and provision of education. The relatively simple models developed illustrate the use of analytical tools for understanding central policy issues. After offering a historical overview of the development of public education and a review of current econometric evidence on education, growth, and income distribution, the authors lay the theoretical groundwork for the main body of analysis. First they develop a basic static model of how political decisions determine education spending; then they extend this model dynamically. Applying this framework to a comparison of education financing under different regimes, the authors explore fiscal decentralization; individual choice between public and private schooling, including the use of education vouchers to combine public financing of education with private provision; and the social dimension of education—its role in state-building, the traditional "melting pot" that promotes cohesion in a culturally diverse society.

Money and Schools explains and demonstrates the relationship between money and equality of educational opportunity in a way that is clear, precise, and engaging. Grounded in research and best practices, this book provides a broad overview of school finance, budgeting, and resource allocation, an understanding of the underlying economic, social, legal, and political principles that drive how schools are funded, as well as a detailed examination of day-to-day funding operations. Rich pedagogical features include chapter drivers, point/counterpoint discussions, case studies, portfolio exercises, and web and recommended resources. This accessible and engaging book offers strong connections to real-world experiences and detailed information on preK–12 funding history, concepts, and current operations for both aspiring and experienced education leaders in school budgeting, finance, and resource management courses. New to this edition: Coverage of new concepts and trends, such as the political economy and culture of public education. Inclusion of cutting-edge research on the impacts of money on student learning outcomes. Expanded chapter-by-chapter annotations and recommended resources that point readers to other resources and explain key concepts in greater detail. New online supplemental downloads, including updated PowerPoints for Instructors and chapter-based interactive figures for download.