Working Paper: NBER ID: w17155
Authors: Elizabeth U. Cascio; Nora E. Gordon; Sarah J. Reber
Abstract: Title I of the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act substantially increased federal aid for education, with the goal of expanding educational opportunity. Combining the timing of the program's introduction with variation in its intensity, we find that Title I increased school spending by 46 cents on the dollar in the average school district in the South and increased spending nearly dollar-for-dollar in Southern districts with little scope for local offset. Based on this differential fiscal response, we find that increases in school budgets from Title I decreased high school dropout rates for whites, but not blacks.
Keywords: Title I; Educational Opportunity; Federal Aid; School Spending; Dropout Rates
JEL Codes: H7; I2; J15
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| local control over Title I funds (I28) | effectiveness of the program for black students (I24) |
| Title I funding (I24) | school spending (H52) |
| school spending (H52) | high school dropout rates (white students) (I21) |
| Title I funding (I24) | high school dropout rates (white students) (I21) |
| Title I funding (I24) | high school dropout rates (black students) (I21) |
| Title I funding (I24) | school spending growth (H52) |
| Title I funding (I24) | decline in white high school dropout rates (I21) |