Education Funding and Dropout Trends in Abbott Districts: An Empirical Analysis of a New Jersey Legal Ruling Open Access

Abstract

Education funding is a topic of controversy across the United States. New Jersey has been

attempting to correct education inequity caused by education-funding laws through a series of

reforms. The Abbott laws and rulings are the most famous education-funding reforms that New

Jersey has made. Using panel data from the State of New Jersey Department of Education, this

paper studies the effect of Judge Neil Schuster’s 2005 ruling regarding the Abbott reforms on

dropout trends in 27 of the designated Abbott school districts. In this study, the fixed effects

model is primarily used. The fixed effects model identifies some statistically significant effects

of the 2005 Abbott ruling on dropout, but further research is required for a more comprehensive understanding of the effect of the 2005 Abbott ruling on school outcomes.

Table of Contents

I. Introduction ................................................................................................. 1

II. Literature Review ......................................................................................... 6

III. Data and Empirical Analysis ................................................................................. 8

IV. Results ..................................................................................................... 16

V. Discussion ............................................................................................................. 18

VI. Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 19

References ................................................................................................ 21

Tables ........................................................................................................... 24

Table 1: Sample Means and Standard Deviations of All Variables by Year ................ 24

Table 2: Fixed Effects and Random Effects Analysis for Total Dropout .............. 25

Table 3: Fixed Effects Analysis for Black Male Dropout and White Male Dropout....... 26

Table 4: Fixed Effects Analysis for Black Male Dropout and Black Female Dropout ..... 27

Table 5: Fixed Effects Analysis for White Male Dropout and White Female Dropout .... 28

Appendix ............................................................... 29

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	Economics
Degree	B.A.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Education, Policy Economics, General
Keyword	education New Jersey law
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Lanier, Kelli, Emory University
Committee Members	Cherribi, Sam, Emory University Carmody, Erin, Emory University

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