School Finance Court Cases and Disparate Racial Impact

Publication Date: January 2005

Publisher: Furman Center for Real Estate

Author(s): Amy Ellen Schwartz; Leanna Stiefel; Robert Berne; Colin Chellman

Research Area: Education

Keywords: race; schools; Community and Economic Development

Type: Article

Abstract:

Although analyses of state school finance systems rarely focus on the distribution of funds to students of different races, the advent of racial discrimination as an issue in school finance court cases may change that situation. In this article, we describe the background, analyses, and results of plaintiffs’ testimony regarding racial discrimination in Campaign for Fiscal Equity Inc. v. State of New York. Plaintiffs employed multiple regression and public finance literature to show that New York State’s school finance system had a disparate racial impact on New York City students. We review the legal basis for disparate racial impact claims, with particular emphasis on the role of quantitative statistical work, and then describe the model we developed and estimated for the court case. Finally, we discuss the defendants’rebuttal, the Court’s decision, and conclude with observations about the role of analysis in judicial decision making in school finance.