ERIC Number: EJ1082325
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013
Pages: 24
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0098-9495
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
K-12 Non-Instructional Service Consolidation: Spending Changes and Scale Economies
DeLuca, Thomas A.
Journal of Education Finance, v39 n2 p150-173 Fall 2013
Educational policy makers (e.g., legislators, state and local school boards) continue to promote inter-district service consolidation as one method to reduce operating expenditures citing economies of scale as the source of any savings. This study uses survey data to identify the extent of non-instructional service consolidation in Michigan, with these data then merged with financial and other administrative panel data from 2004-2010. Except for a small spike in the number of consolidations in 2009, the annual trend showed no apparent acceleration or deceleration in the pace of service consolidation. Financially, this study measures and finds non-significant spending reductions associated with the consolidation of services from the local district to the Educational Service Agency (ESA). Although this is only one of several service consolidation models, (e.g., local districts sharing services with each other, local districts sharing services with municipalities, privatization of services), this study finds no support for the prediction that consolidating non-instructional services significantly decreases service spending. Conversely, the findings show that consolidating business office services significantly increases instructional spending.
Descriptors: Elementary Secondary Education, Pupil Personnel Services, Educational Finance, Expenditures, Retrenchment, Shared Resources and Services, School Business Officials, Administrator Surveys, Regression (Statistics)
University of Illinois Press. 1325 South Oak Street, Champaign, IL 61820-6903. Tel: 217-244-0626; Fax: 217-244-8082; e-mail: journals@uillinois.edu; Web site: http://www.press.uillinois.edu/journals/main.html
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Michigan
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Author Affiliations: N/A