Education
Finance
and Accountability
Program
(EFAP)
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John Yinger Director |
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William Duncombe Associate Director |
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Jerry Miner Senior Associate |
Ross Rubenstein Senior Associate |
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Robert Bifulco Senior Associate |
Jeffrey Weinstein Senior Associate |
Kalena Cortes Senior Associate |
Economies of Size in Education
William Duncombe
Jerry Miner
John Yinger
School district consolidation continues to be an important and controversial issue facing public schools in many states. School consolidation represents one of the largest changes in school governance in the United States in the last century. While the pace of school district consolidation has slowed considerably since the early 1970's, states still provide incentives for district (or school) consolidation. However, many state governments provide mixed incentives to their local governments with regard to consolidation. Close to half of the states adjust their operating aid formulas for scarcity or small scale, and in some cases the adjustment is sizeable. Some states have also provided financial assistance to small charter schools, and other innovations in school organization that emphasize smaller schools. There is a growing concern nationally that schools particularly in urban school districts, are too large, and that this is inhibiting student success.
The focus of this area of research is on examining the impacts of school and school district enrollment size on the efficiency and effectiveness of public schools. Based on an extensive review of education economies of size research in the last two decades, we have found some consistent findings from the cost function research on economies of size. However, methodologically strong research examining directly the cost savings from school consolidation, or the impact of school size on student performance remains relatively thin. Using education cost functions, we examine economies of size in education, and specifically examine the cost savings from school district consolidation in New York State. In future research we plan to examine the impact of school size on student performance and educational attainment.
Papers:
"Does School District Consolidation Cut Costs?" William Duncombe and John Yinger. CPR Working Paper 33. Abstract
"Revisiting Economies of Size in Education: Are We Any Closer to a Consensus?" Matthew Andrews, William Duncombe and John Yinger. Economics of Education Review, 2002, 21(3), pp. 245-262. Reprinted with permission from Elsevier Science *A single copy of this article can be downloaded or printed for your personal research and study.
"Potential Cost Savings from School District Consolidation: A Case Study of New York," William Duncombe, Jerry Miner, and John Ruggiero, Economics of Education Review, 1995, 14(3): 265-284. (©1995 Elsevier) Reprinted with permission from Elsevier Science. *A single copy of this article can be downloaded or printed for your personal research and study.
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