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State involvement in limiting textbook choice by school districts

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  • Michelle Phillips

Abstract

Who gets to decide what textbooks are used in America’s public school classrooms varies by state. States can let each school district decide, provide standards that must be followed and make available an incomplete listing of books meeting those standards, or allow schools to choose books only from a list provided by the state. I present a model that provides an explanation for state limits on textbook selection by school districts. I examine the roles played by decision making costs, effectiveness of voters, religious composition, power of teachers, and propensity of state governments to interfere with or to help districts in textbook selection policies at the state level. There has been virtually no research on this topic. My findings corroborate the extant literature that addresses interference by state governments in local affairs and extend the morality politics literature by finding a strong link between religious fundamentalism and state-level policies. I also find that state book lists are less likely (1) in more educated states, where voters are better able to select the most appropriate textbook, (2) in states with smaller school districts, where voters are more involved in the schools, and (3) in states with stronger teacher unions, giving teachers more power in textbook selection. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Michelle Phillips, 2014. "State involvement in limiting textbook choice by school districts," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 160(1), pages 181-203, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:160:y:2014:i:1:p:181-203
    DOI: 10.1007/s11127-013-0075-9
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    6. Burkey, Mark L., 2006. "Gini Coefficients for the 2000 Census," MPRA Paper 57900, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Sass, Tim R & Saurman, David S, 1993. "Mandated Exclusive Territories and Economic Efficiency: An Empirical Analysis of the Malt-Beverage Industry," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(1), pages 153-177, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Angela K. Dills & Douglas A. Norton, 2022. "Sincerely held beliefs: evidence on how religion in the classroom affects private school enrollments," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 192(1), pages 145-167, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Textbook; Government; Bureaucracy; Fundamentalist; Educational attainment; D72; H70; H75; I28;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • H70 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - General
    • H75 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Government: Health, Education, and Welfare
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy

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