Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Ongoing federal efforts encourage school districts to allocate resources equitably across schools. One goal is to provide equitable access to experienced educators for low-income students and students of color, thereby narrowing the “teacher experience gap.” Drawing on recently released school-level data from the Office of Civil Rights, I show that while high-poverty and high-minority schools have larger class sizes and receive less funding nationally, school districts allocate these resources equitably, on average, across schools. However, the least experienced teachers are concentrated in high-poverty and high-minority schools, both across and within school districts. I find substantial variation in the extent to which districts allocate resources equitably. District-level models show that additional state and local funding and lower levels of student segregation are both associated with more equitable district resource allocation. The study offers recommendations for state and federal education policy related to the Every Student Succeeds Act.