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The Rise of School-Supporting Nonprofits

Author

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  • Ashlyn Aiko Nelson

    (School of Public and Environmental Affairs Indiana University)

  • Beth Gazley

    (School of Public and Environmental Affairs Indiana University)

Abstract

This paper examines voluntary contributions to public education via charitable school foundations, booster clubs, parent teacher associations, and parent teacher organizations. We use panel data on school-supporting charities with national coverage from 1995 to 2010, which we geocode and match to school districts. We document the meteoric rise of school-supporting nonprofits during this panel, and then estimate a series of regression models to examine the distributional consequences of voluntary contributions. We find relatively large districts have higher probabilities of receiving revenues from a school-supporting nonprofit but the level of per-pupil voluntary contributions declines with student enrollment. In addition, we find school districts with higher endowments have higher probabilities of being served by at least one school-supporting nonprofit and higher levels of per-pupil contributions. Finally, we find no evidence that impressive recent growth in the number and financial size of these school-supporting charities relates to reductions in the public financing of schools. © 2014 Federal Reserve Bank of New York

Suggested Citation

  • Ashlyn Aiko Nelson & Beth Gazley, 2014. "The Rise of School-Supporting Nonprofits," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 9(4), pages 541-566, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:edfpol:v:9:y:2014:i:4:p:541-566
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Engel, Mimi & Claessens, Amy & Watts, Tyler & Stone, Susan, 2016. "Socioeconomic inequality at school entry: A cross-cohort comparison of families and schools," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 227-232.
    2. Charisse A. Gulosino & Elif ÅžiÅŸli Ciamarra, 2019. "Donors and Founders on Charter School Boards and Their Impact on Financial and Academic Outcomes," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 14(3), pages 441-471, Summer.
    3. Stephanie Farmer & Rachel Weber, 2022. "EDUCATION REFORM AND FINANCIALIZATION: Making the Fiscal Crisis of the Schools," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(6), pages 911-932, November.
    4. Ressler, Robert W., 2020. "What village? Opportunities and supports for parental involvement outside of the family context," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    5. Thomas Downes, 2016. "Why have revenue-strapped New England school districts been slow to turn to alternative funding sources?," Current Policy Perspectives 16-1, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    public education; charities; geocode; nonprofits; voluntary contributions; public financing;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance; Financial Aid
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • H40 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - General

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