THE IMPACT OF THE INEQUITY OF CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT REVENUE ON THE EQUITY OF CURRENT EDUCATIONAL EXPENDITURES IN OKLAHOMA SCHOOLS

Abstract

ABSTRACT The purpose for conducting this study was to examine the extent to which students in districts that have moderate or significant levels of capital funding through building and bond funds are placed at a relative resource advantage compared to students in districts with fewer funds from these two sources. Additionally, the study examines the extent to which crossover funding impacts the equity of current education fiscal support. To accomplish this purpose three research questions were considered: The first research question asked, were there statistically significant differences in resources among Oklahoma school districts with low, moderate, or high levels of capital revenues derived from building fund and bond yields during fiscal year 2016? An Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to answer research question 1. The conclusions from question 1 include: • the ability to support capital expenditures appears to have a meaningful effect on current expenditure levels and • districts that are able to support relatively higher levels of capital expenditures are able to support significantly higher levels of average teacher salaries. The second research question asked, what were the effects of crossover funding on the resource accessibility of the Oklahoma education finance system during fiscal years 2012-2016? The conclusions for research question 2 include: • current expenditures maintained a relatively high level of resource accessibility among districts and • capital expenditures demonstrated a relatively low level of resource accessibility throughout the distribution. Research question 3 asked, what were the effects of crossover funding on the wealth neutrality of the Oklahoma education finance system during fiscal years 2012-2016? The Gini Coefficient, McLoone Index, and Coefficient of Determination were used to ascertain the level of wealth neutrality of the indicated data. The conclusions for research question 3 include: • Current expenditures were highly wealth neutral, again indicating that the state funding formula is functioning accordingly and • capital expenditures were not wealth neutral, across the distribution of school districts.