This paper examines the impact of ethnic and racial diversity on the public's willingness to invest in public goods. Challenging the prevalent assertion that increasing diversity reduces support for investing in public goods, it argues that this relationship is substantially shaped by the context in which people live because demographic changes…

The purpose of this study is to bring together recent innovations in the research literature around school district capital facility finance, municipal bond elections, statistical models of conditional time-varying outcomes, and data mining algorithms for automated text mining of election ballot proposals to examine the factors that influence the…

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) allocated $11 billion per year for 2009 and 2010 for qualified school construction bonds (QSCBs) for America's schools. From a historical perspective, this program is a broad transformation of the federal role in school facility funding. This study examined factors associated with federal…

Using Levin and McEwan's (2001) "ingredients method," this study identified the major activities and associated costs of school levy campaigns in five districts. The ingredients were divided into one of five cost categories--human resources, facilities, fees, marketing, and supplies. As to overall costs of the campaigns, estimates ranged…

This study was designed to explore fiscal interrelationships that underlay capital outlay funding, including the differences between rural and non-rural school districts. The study additionally focused on the relationships between various capital outlay funding components (capital outlay expenditures per pupil, net assessed valuation per pupil,…

Examines the effects of including technology funding in Oklahoma school district bond issues on their voting percentages and pass/fail rates during fiscal years 1995-96 through 1999-2000. Finds that percent of technology funding included in bond issue dollar amount was significantly related to positive voting percentages and predictive of issue…

Models three-stage bond-rating process: whether to have a bond rated, whether to insure the bond, and estimation of the actual bond rating; tests multistage model empirically using sample of 148 bond issues representing 10 different states; finds that the par value (size) of the bond issue is decisive factor in decision to have a bond rated or…

Describes how school districts may significantly reduce the interest paid on school building bonds in states where the law permits advance refunding of school bond issues in response to declining interest rates. Presents two examples of how Indiana school districts used advance refunding to reduce the cost of debt service. (JG)

Compares state funding for school infrastructure needs between 1993-94 and 1998-99. Found 164 percent increase in state infrastructure funding. Examines state funding mechanisms such as flat grants, equalized grants, categorical grants, and full-state funding. Fourteen states provide no state infrastructure funding; most rely instead on…

The bonding authority and bond bank concepts have evolved as effective and efficient methods of assisting local education agencies in financing school facility construction and other capital improvement programs. This discussion defines bonding corporations and reviews their historical development, current status, and potential. (TE)

Offers guidelines to aid school districts in planning a sale of school construction bonds so as to minimize interest costs. (JG)

Examines voter response to bond issues immediately following Michigan's elimination of its property tax school-funding system. Reviews equity measures, discusses court cases addressing school-facility equity issues, and compares other states' funding approaches. Michigan's system for financing school facilities remains inequitable, and facility…

To understand how the political dynamics of state bond elections could affect education funding, this study analyzed factors influencing voter support on all 319 state ballot initiatives or referenda to authorize debt for a specific government function from 1978 to 1990. Voter support for education debt is generally high. (34 footnotes) (MLH)