Minority Support: School District Demographics and Support for Funding Election Measures

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Issue Date
2019-09-20Author
Alvord, Daniel
Rauscher, Emily
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Type
Article
Article Version
Scholarly/refereed, author accepted manuscript
Rights
© The Author(s) 2019.
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
In the context of tight state budgets, local education funding is increasingly important. This article examines the relationship between district-level demographic characteristics and voter support for tax increases to fund the local school district. Using district-level panel data on California school district elections and demographics from 1995 to 2014, we ask the following questions: (1) What is the relationship between demographics and support for school district tax measures? and (2) Does this relationship vary by the type of tax measure? Results suggest that voter support varies by district demographics. However, results differ for bond and property tax measures and suggest that the proportion of Black students increases the likelihood of passing a bond measure but reduces the likelihood of passing a property tax measure. This heterogeneity offers one potential explanation for contradictory evidence in the literature. Results have implications for racial inequality of educational resources between districts.
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Citation
Alvord, D., & Rauscher, E. (2021). Minority Support: School District Demographics and Support for Funding Election Measures. Urban Affairs Review, 57(3), 643–674. https://doi.org/10.1177/1078087419877461
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