Object Lessons: Examination Of Spending and Revenue Patterns In Pennsylvania k-12 Public School Distircts: 1998 Through 2008
Open Access
- Author:
- Shrom, Tim
- Graduate Program:
- Educational Leadership
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- March 27, 2013
- Committee Members:
- William Hartman, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Preston C Green Iii, Committee Member
Roger C Shouse, Committee Member
Edgar Paul Yoder, Committee Member - Keywords:
- K-12 School Finance
Multi-Year Expenditure Study
Expenditure Share Changes over-time
Object and Function Expenditure Analysis
State Policy impact on School Expenditures - Abstract:
- Abstract This study analyzed changes in school district expenditure spending patterns to observe how major educational policies, initiatives, and mandates translated or were reflected by school district expenditure accounting. The target population was all 501 Pennsylvania school districts from 1998 through 2008. Within that time period, district expenditure patterns were examined focused at the major Object and Function series of accounts. Object codes by design capture strong indicators of expenditure traits. Expenditures changes over time observed in each object’s share of total expenditures, the share of new funds it commanded, and the direction of share growth or decline. Mandates and state policy may have expenditure impact on districts by design, default, or by unintended consequence. Analyses revealing policy lead and lag times, as well as trend direction and strength may provide valuable insight for understanding component flows of school district expenditures. The confluence of a decade of increasing mandates, major policy implementations, and student outcome accountability measures met headlong into the great 2008 recession. There remains a tremendous amount of legacy costs facing school finance funding systems, including multi-year labor contracts, pension liabilities, contractual health care obligations, post-retirement benefit packages, debt service and capital requirements for infrastructure and major equipment needs. There is little indication that districts or states have taken time to fully analyze impact and adjust to post recession spending patterns for school funding policy. To that end, this study observed and analyzed educational expenditure and revenue trends over a decade and investigated linkages to public policy initiatives that were occurring over the time period. Understanding these past trends, inclusive of trend strength and direction, serve to provide well-grounded perspective to vision post-recession policy issues.