Where Does the Money Go? Budget Expenditure Allocations in Charter Schools

This study examines the expenditure allocation pattern of charter schools in Texas and compares those patterns to non-charter public schools to determine if the autonomy afforded to charter schools results in significant differences. Findings indicate the allocation patterns of charter schools do di...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of education finance 2013-03, Vol.38 (4), p.304-319
Main Author: Carpenter, Dick M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic Excellence Indicator System
Accounting and auditing
Allocation (Accounting)
Analysis
Budget allocation
Charter Schools
Comparative Analysis
Cost allocation
Costs
Educational administration
Educational Finance
Expenditures
Federal budgets
Finance
Governance
Institutional Characteristics
Instruction
Instructional leadership
Leadership
Middle schools
Pedagogy
Public Schools
Resource Allocation
School management and organization
Statistical Analysis
Student Characteristics
Tables (Data)
Texas
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Summary:This study examines the expenditure allocation pattern of charter schools in Texas and compares those patterns to non-charter public schools to determine if the autonomy afforded to charter schools results in significant differences. Findings indicate the allocation patterns of charter schools do differ from those of non-charter public schools. After controlling for various student and school characteristics, charter schools allocate approximately two percentage points less than non-charters to instruction, 1.76 percentage points less to instructional services, and two percentage points less to support services. Conversely, charters dedicate 1.4 percentage points more to school leadership and 4.5 percentage points more to "other costs," as compared to non-charters. That is, charters appear to allocate less to instruction-related activities and more to "overhead" — such as administration and "other costs". All of these differences are statistically significant, and the differences in instructional services, support services, and "other costs" are practically significant, as measured by effect sizes.
ISSN:0098-9495
1944-6470
1944-6470
DOI:10.1353/jef.2013.a539773