Attracting Capital: Magnets, Charters, and School Referendum Success

Abstract

Does school choice enhance the ability of school districts to raise revenue? School districts use charter and magnet schools to attract and retain students, but does choice improve the odds for school districts seeking increased taxing authority at the polls? If those parents who choose schools are attentive to district policies, then increasing school choice should lead to more support of district spending. This work uses evidence from California, Colorado, Minnesota, and Wisconsin from 2000 to 2005 to suggest that school choice significantly improves a district's chances of winning revenue elections.

Campaign Expenditures in School Levy Referenda and Their Relationship to Voter Approval: Evidence From Ohio, 2007–2010

“…A recent study by Fletcher and Kenny (2008) has suggested that elderly residents who have grandchildren in school have the same preferences as younger households about school spending. More recently, Shober (2011) found higher percentages of senior citizens related significantly to an increased likelihood of school referenda passage.…”

“…Indeed, Shober (2011) cites Ohio as an example, noting that increased state education revenue in Ohio's 2002Ohio's -2003 was offset by more than $1.4 billion in cuts from other state programs including higher education, mental health, women's shelters and prisons. Shober (2011) has contended that "permitting or encouraging school choice in a district may be a way to curry favor with these potential voters in a school district bond or mill rate referendum" (p. 206). Shober (2011) found higher charter and magnet schools enrollments associated with an increase likelihood of referenda passage.…”

“…Shober (2011) has contended that "permitting or encouraging school choice in a district may be a way to curry favor with these potential voters in a school district bond or mill rate referendum" (p. 206). Shober (2011) found higher charter and magnet schools enrollments associated with an increase likelihood of referenda passage. The number of charter schools was associated with an increase in the likelihood of passage, while the number of magnet schools was not.…”

“…More recently, Shober (2011) hypothesized that if a district's budget was primarily state-funded or federally funded, voters might assume that those sources should be able to supplement a district's needs and thus voters would be more supportive. Shober was surprised to find that that the proportion of school funding derived from the local property tax was not significantly associated with the willingness of voters to approve new school funds.…”

“…In model A (see Table 4), this study found a 1% increase in district salaries as a percentage of total operating budget was related positively to an increase in the likelihood of new operating levy passage (p < .01), but a 1% increase in fringe benefits as a percentage of total operating budget was related negatively (p < .05) to the likelihood of passage. Like Johnson andIngle (2009) andShober (2011), the number of attempts in model A (and B) was operationalized as a continuous …”