Investigating Missouri Per Pupil Expenditure as a Function of Median Household Income

Adam Geller

University of Missouri – St. Louis

Two Main Data Sets

• Median Household Income – United States Census 2000

• Per Pupil Expenditure– Missouri Department of Elementary and

Secondary Education

• Wealth concentrated in urban areas

2000 Median Household Income

• Spending has no clear pattern

• Pockets of high spending in low income areas as well as in high income areas

2007 Per Pupil Expenditure

R2 = 0.0127

$0

$2,000

$4,000

$6,000

$8,000

$10,000

$12,000

$14,000

$16,000

$18,000

0 20000 40000 60000 80000 100000 120000

Median Income

PP

E

Full Data Set

Full Data Set

• R2 = 0.00127• On the whole, median

income does not serve as a predictor of PPE

R2 = 0.0127

$0

$2,000

$4,000

$6,000

$8,000

$10,000

$12,000

$14,000

$16,000

$18,000

0 20000 40000 60000 80000 100000 120000

Median Income

PP

E

Urban or Rural?

• All school districts geographically touching an urban census area were selected, in entirety, as urban districts.

• This groups the metropolitan area as urban rather than only districts of cities proper

• Map uses same color brackets as previous state-wide map.

• Clearer concentration of wealth with mix of lower income areas

Median Income of Urban Districts

Urban Districts PPE

R2 = 0.0701

$0

$2,000

$4,000

$6,000

$8,000

$10,000

$12,000

$14,000

$16,000

$18,000

0 20000 40000 60000 80000 100000 120000

Median Income

PP

E

Urban Districts PPE

• R2 = 0.0701• In urban districts,

median income does not serve as a predictor of PPE

R2 = 0.0701

$0

$2,000

$4,000

$6,000

$8,000

$10,000

$12,000

$14,000

$16,000

$18,000

0 20000 40000 60000 80000 100000 120000

Median Income

PP

E

Rural Districts PPE

R2 = 0.0131

$0

$2,000

$4,000

$6,000

$8,000

$10,000

$12,000

$14,000

$16,000

0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 70000

Median Income

PP

E

Rural Districts PPE

• R2 = 0.0131• In rural districts,

income does not serve as a predictor of PPE

R2 = 0.0131

$0

$2,000

$4,000

$6,000

$8,000

$10,000

$12,000

$14,000

$16,000

0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 70000

Median Income

PP

E

Median Income Brackets

• Missouri median household income was $43,266

• 566 districts in data set– 139 districts above median income– 427 districts at or below median income

Median Income ≤ $43,266

R2 = 0.0027

$0

$2,000

$4,000

$6,000

$8,000

$10,000

$12,000

$14,000

$16,000

0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 35000 40000 45000 50000

Median Income

PP

E

Median Income ≤ $43,266

• R2 = 0.0027• When median income

is less than $43,266, PPE is not correlated to median incomeR2 = 0.0027

$0

$2,000

$4,000

$6,000

$8,000

$10,000

$12,000

$14,000

$16,000

0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 35000 40000 45000 50000

Median Income

PP

E

Median Income > $43,266

R2 = 0.1948

$0

$2,000

$4,000

$6,000

$8,000

$10,000

$12,000

$14,000

$16,000

$18,000

0 20000 40000 60000 80000 100000 120000

Median Income

PP

E

R2 = 0.1940

Very Top End May Skew The Relationship

• “Clustering” begins below median income of these five districts

District Name Median Income PPE

LADUE $109,160 $11,984

CLAYTON $101,410 $15,248

ROCKWOOD $87,537 $7,676

PARKWAY $84,437 $9,262

KIRKWOOD $79,257 $10,134

$43,266 > Median Income < $75,000

R2 = 0.0399

$0

$2,000

$4,000

$6,000

$8,000

$10,000

$12,000

$14,000

0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 70000 80000

Median Income

PP

E

R2 = 0.0399

What does this mean?

• From this analysis, it is not clear whether any of these results are a “statistically significant” relationship

• A multi-variable relationship is more likely to explain how PPE is affected– Free and reduced lunch population– Special education population– Limited English proficiency population

Sources

• Median Income by school district– http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/bat

• 2007 School District Boundaries– http://www.msdis.missouri.edu/datasearch/

VectDisplayResults.jsp?currDispPageNum=1

• Per Pupil Expenditure– http://dese.mo.gov/schooldata/ftp/finance.xls

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