The Impact of School Facility Investments on Students and Homeowners: Evidence from Los Angeles

Abstract

We study school facility investments using administrative records from Los Angeles. Exploiting quasi-random variation in the timing of new facility openings and using a residential assignment instrument, we find positive impacts on test scores, attendance, and house prices. Effects are not driven by changes in class size, peers, teachers, or principals, but some evidence points toward increased facility quality. We evaluate program efficiency using implied future earnings and housing capitalization. For each dollar spent, the program generated $1.62 in household value, with about 24 percent coming directly through test score gains and 76 percent from capitalization of non-test-score amenities. (JEL H75, H76, I21, I26, J31, R31, R53)

The Effects of Property Tax Levy Limits on School Infrastructure Assets and Expenditures: The Case of New York

“…Several studies examine the effects of TELs on municipal capital fiscal outcomes or school district operating expenditures (Wang & Wu, 2018). Moreover, many other studies investigate the important role of school facility conditions or school capital investments on student performance (Lafortune & Schönholzer, 2022). However, no study has been conducted to focus on the effects of TELs on school districts' infrastructure investments.…”

“…Capital investments in school infrastructure are important. Existing studies that have found significant effects of capital expenditures on student achievement and outcomes (e.g., Conlin & Thompson, 2017;Hashim et al, 2018;Kai & Zimmer, 2016;Lafortune & Schönholzer, 2022;Rauscher, 2020) outnumber the studies that have found no significant effect (e.g., Baron, 2022). However, it is well known that the infrastructure of public schools in the United States is in poor condition.…”

O Impacto da pandemia na aprendizagem dos estudantes: Um ensaio sobre o futuro do ensino superior

“…As disparidades de utilização com base na dimensão e no efeito de escala exige escolas menores e especializadas que possam fazer investimentos mais direcionados, económicos e eficientes. O caso da União das Escolas do Distrito de Los Angeles (LAUSD), como em outros vários distritos, está na linha da frente no que diz respeito ao investimento em infraestruturas escolares quanto á construção e renovação, no âmbito federal, estadual e local dos Estados Unidos, envolvendo oportunidades para 84.000 escolas (LaFortune & Schonholzer, 2022). Embora a adoção de ferramentas baseadas na IA esteja a ser mais lenta, especialistas do ensino superior preveem que a sua utilização irá aumentar, permitindo que o corpo docente personalize os cursos de acordo com o progresso de cada aluno, optimize a sua carga de trabalho e melhore o ajustamento dos alunos de acordo com as qualidades inatas de cada um.…”

What Works and for Whom? Effectiveness and Efficiency of School Capital Investments Across the U.S

“…Our study is also related to a set of studies, pioneered by Cellini et al (2010), that have estimated the effects of school capital expenditure on students and the real estate market, reaching conflicting conclusions. Most of these studies leverage evidence from single states (Cellini et al, 2010;Goncalves, 2015;Hong and Zimmer, 2016;Conlin and Thompson, 2017;Rauscher, 2020;Enami et al, 2021; or individual school districts (Neilson and Zimmerman, 2014;Lafortune and Sch önholzer, 2022). The only exception is Brunner et al (2022), who use variation in revenues from wind energy installations and test score data from the NAEP to study impacts across states.…”