This dissertation examines the school-level impacts on student achievement in the state of Pennsylvania from the economic inputs provided to students and schools. I conduct a comprehensive review of prior literature on Pennsylvania education funding, the issue of equity versus adequacy, academic spending per pupil, and teacher compensation, as well as the use of standardized tests as a measure of student success. My study uses data from the Pennsylvania Department of Education's yearly summary of economic data, teacher contracts from districts, and School Performance Profile (SPP) scores, as well as other demographic data from the area of the research, to obtain and interpret impacts of expenditures per pupil and average classroom teacher salary on school SPP scores. This impact is viewed through the lens of an education production function (Bowles, 1970) framework. My analysis uses a multi-level hierarchical linear model to address the influence of the factors studied on student achievement. My findings using this model showed no significant effect on student achievement as a result of expenditures per pupil. While finding no statistically significant impact of expenditures on achievement, my results do demonstrate a statistically significant effect of average classroom teacher salary in school districts with the SPP scores of schools within the district. Additionally, I analyzed the effects of community wealth, as indicated by schools' Title I status, and the school level classification of elementary, middle, or high as predictive input on student success, and report significant impacts by these measures on school SPP scores. Overall, my findings produce mixed conclusions, but suggest that more research is needed regarding how to ensure that educational funding is being used as effectively as possible to promote equity for all students. This recommendation, as well as others for research specific to the concepts, are found at the end of this dissertation. Keywords: School Performance Profile scores, equity versus adequacy, spending per pupil, classroom teacher salary, student achievement. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]