Declining Enrollment, Rising Budgets with Ben Scafidi

Education |
By Susan Pendergrass | Read Time 1 minute minutes

Susan Pendergrass speaks with Ben Scafidi, professor of economics and director of the Education Economics Center at Kennesaw State University. He is also a Friedman fellow with EdChoice and the Georgia Public Policy Foundation. They discuss the financial implications of declining enrollment in public schools, highlighting how districts with fewer students often experience increased funding per student. Scafidi explains the paradox of declining enrollment leading to financial windfalls for these districts, allowing them to pay teachers more and increase staffing levels. The conversation also touches on the need for a shift in mindset regarding school funding and the importance of adapting to demographic changes in education policy.

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Timestamps:

00:00: The Impact of Declining Enrollment on School Funding
06:01: Understanding Financial Windfalls in Education
11:53: Staffing Trends Amid Enrollment Declines
17:49: The Future of School Districts in a Declining Enrollment Landscape

Produced by Show-Me Opportunity

About the Author

Before joining the Show-Me Institute, Susan Pendergrass was Vice President of Research and Evaluation for the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, where she oversaw data collection and analysis and carried out a rigorous research program. Susan earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business, with a concentration in Finance, at the University of Colorado in 1983. She earned her Masters in Business Administration at George Washington University, with a concentration in Finance (1992) and a doctorate in public policy from George Mason University, with a concentration in social policy (2002). Susan began researching charter schools with her dissertation on the competitive effects of Massachusetts charter schools. Since then, she has conducted numerous studies on the fiscal impact of school choice legislation. Susan has also taught quantitative methods courses at the Paul H. Nitze School for Advanced International Studies, at Johns Hopkins University, and at the School of Public Policy at George Mason University. Prior to coming to the National Alliance, Susan was a senior policy advisor at the U.S. Department of Education during the Bush administration and a senior research scientist at the National Center for Education Statistics during the Obama administration.

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