View Research by Author - Shannon McKay

Citation URL: http://www.urban.org/ShannonMcKay

This study asks how recent efforts at school reform and student outcome-based accountability have impacted state and district resource allocation. We use the school district-level information from the Annual Survey of Local Government Finances (F-33) and the Common Core of Data to examine both national trends in resource allocation patterns and whether districts in "high-reform" states allocate resources in ways that differ from districts in other states. National trends from 1992 to 1997 did not show districts investing more heavily in instruction as one might expect. In four "high-reform" states, only two of the four demonstrated a disproportionate increase in district money allocated to instruction. These increases are likely to be explained by simultaneous increases in education spending in those states rather than by concerns over accountability reforms. Thus, reform efforts alone may not be sufficient to cause schools to reallocate resources to instruction. In fact, schools in reform states increased administrative spending over and above schools nationally, suggesting that reform efforts actually create administrative burdens for schools. (In Developments in School Finance, 1999-2000, edited by William Fowler (57-76). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.)

This report is based on an analysis of information contained in the twelve EFD state reports submitted to the U.S. Department of Education in the spring of 2000. These reports summarize waiver activity in the states between January 1, 1999, and December 31, 1999, including the number and type of federal waivers granted to school districts or schools and the disposition of waiver requests. As required by the Goals 2000 legislation, the reports also include achievement data and other information for waivers that have been in place in districts and schools for two or more years. In addition, this analysis includes information from the EFD states' original applications for the Ed-Flex authority and information gathered through several telephone calls to SEA officials in the EFD states.

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