Inefficient education spending in public school districts: a case for consolidation

Marvin E. Dodson and Thomas Garrett

No 2002-010, Working Papers from Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Abstract: This paper estimates scale economies for Arkansas school districts. Large economies of scale exist in teacher salary and supply costs, as well as total costs. Our results suggest that districts, especially rural districts, would experience measurable cost-savings from consolidation. We simulate a hypothetical rural school district consolidation to obtain cost-saving estimates from consolidation. Simulations indicate that districts could save an average of 34 percent in average variable costs. At the state level, consolidation of rural districts in Arkansas could annually save million. However, consolidation of school districts may increase various implicit costs to students and local communities.

Keywords: Education (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2003
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Inefficient Education Spending in Public School Districts: A Case for Consolidation? (2004)
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