THE ALLOCATION OF EDUCATION FUNDING AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

With a potential reduction in State Aid in numerous districts and the implementation of the New York State Tax Cap, stakeholders in the districts believe that the academic achievement of students will be impacted. Studies have determined that the Socioeconomic Status (SES) and the ethnicity of the students have an effect on their educational achievement. However questions have aroused regarding the impact of per pupil spending on academic achievement. Researchers have conflicted results and views on whether spending impacts academic achievement.

How Money Matters: The Effect of School District Spending on Academic Achievement, by Harold Wenglinsky is a study on the relationship between economic resources and student’s achievement. "The findings in this study presented in this article suggested a third alternative, that schools can make a difference when their economic resources are allocated in a fashion conducive to positive school social environments. The study tested the notion that through a certain "path" economic resources are associated with academic achievement." (Wenglinsky, 1997)

Four steps were hypothesized:

Per pupil expenditures on instruction positively influence teacher-student ratios and the average level of education of teachers
Per pupil expenditures on central office administration positively influence teacher student rations.
Teacher-student ratios positively influence the school environment.
School social environment positively influences achievement.

The use of LISREL 8, a structural equation modeling programs was used to analyze the relationships among nine variables using a data from 1992 National Assessment of Education Progress in mathematics for eighth graders and the Common Core of Data for the universe of U.S. school districts.

Wenglinsky concluded that spending patterns affect the learning patterns in two ways:

Instructional spending influences the number of teachers hired per student. Teacher student ratio has an influence on the social environment of the school with higher ratios promoting a more cohesive environment which then raises mathematics achievement above the level expected on the basis of the students SES.
Spending on central office administration also leads to the hiring of more teachers with the same results as for instructional spending.