Ericka Weathers Job Talk - SSRI cluster hire candidate

Google map

Ericka Weathers, Ph.D. Doctoral Candidate, Stanford University

Candidate for Open Rank Professor of Education, Education Policy Studies/Educational Theory and Policy Program, with an emphasis in disparities in education throughout the life course

Job Talk: “Racial and Socioeconomic Disparities in School District Funding”

Disparities in resource exposure is a key mechanism linking racial segregation to student outcomes. Evidence suggests that black students’ expanded access to school resources as a result of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka contributed to improved outcomes for black students, with no negative impact on white students. This suggests that desegregation worked in part through redistributing resources important for student outcomes. Decades later, there is evidence that past progress on school desegregation has stalled, raising concerns about resource equity and associated student outcomes. Racial segregation remains closely related to racial disparities in academic outcomes. As the isolation of black students within schools increases, the black-white disparity in academic achievement also increases, due in part to racial differences in exposure to poverty. Are recent trends in segregation associated with disparities in school resources? The current study uses the population of school districts in the United States to examine the relationship between contemporary patterns of segregation between school districts within a state and school district revenue over time. I find that increases in racial segregation, even after controlling for poverty and other district characteristics, are associated with disparities in school district revenue. These findings suggest that purportedly race neutral funding formulas distribute funding in racialized ways and demonstrate the need for further investigation into the mechanisms by which school district funding at all levels is allocated. Next steps include alternative specifications of poverty and further robustness checks. These findings may have implications for federal, state, and local education policy, particularly education finance.

All faculty and students are welcome to attend!