Urban schools and the growth machine: When public education and development policy conflict

Jason Reece and Victoria Abou-Ghalioum

Community Development, 2023, vol. 54, issue 4, 588-609

Abstract: The following case study explores the durability of conflict between urban growth machine policies, public-school finance, and educational equity in Columbus, OH. The City of Columbus is one of the fastest growing cities in the Midwest, but it’s largest urban public school district (Columbus City Schools) has grown smaller, more segregated, and poorer. Historical development policies enabled the city’s growth but undermined the school district. Contemporary conflict has emerged related to the impact of tax abatement programs on public school funding. Our Franklin county analysis suggests previous statewide estimates of public schools revenues lost to abatements were underestimated. Analysis of the relationship between abatements and school finances for all public-school districts in Franklin County finds a weak relationship with per pupil spending, but a strong relationship with district demographics and classroom expenditures. Our case analysis suggests planners should focus greater attention on the intersection of economic development policy and public schools.

Date: 2023
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/15575330.2023.2217899 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:comdev:v:54:y:2023:i:4:p:588-609

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/RCOD20

DOI: 10.1080/15575330.2023.2217899

Access Statistics for this article

Community Development is currently edited by John Green, Rhonda Phillips and Anne Heinze Silvis

More articles in Community Development from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().