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Assessing The Impact Of Expenditure On Achievement In Virginia Public Education, Robert C. Dolan, Robert M. Schmidt

Robins School of Business White Paper Series, 1980-2022

The strength of the relationship between student achievement and school resources has important implications for public policy in general, and for the appropriate role of state funding in local education in particular. It is well known that, to the extent that higher expenditures render improved educational performance, vexing issues of legal and economic equity arise. Of course, it is also well known that the findings of extensive empirical analysis suggest that the expenditure-achievement nexus is, at best, of secondary importance among the factors affecting education.

This paper examines the relationship between achievement and expenditure in Virginia public schools. Our focus …