Dissertations

Date of Award

6-28-2021

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Educational Leadership

Advisor

Dr. David Bangs

Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the predictive effects of district and community characteristics on transportation expenses of school districts in Arkansas using the Kaldor-Hicks Pareto efficiency theory. The 2004 ruling in Lakeview School District No. 25 v. Mike Huckabee mandated adequate and equitable public school funding standards in Arkansas. As a result, school districts are funded using a foundation model where the prior year’s average daily membership is multiplied by the foundation amount set by the Arkansas General Assembly. Data were collected from state databases and each school district’s website. Of the 235 districts in the state, the 222 districts not receiving isolated transportation funding were analyzed using multiple regression. The results indicated that the district's poverty percentage and square miles significantly predicted the percentage of transportation funded. Average daily membership and percentage of transportation funded significantly predicted the school district’s actual transportation expense. The district’s average daily membership and square miles did not significantly affect the average age of the bus fleet. Average daily membership and square miles of the district did significantly predict beginning bus driver salary. The results indicated that average daily membership was not the only predictor variable influencing transportation expenditures, suggesting that an improved transportation funding model could benefit school districts in Arkansas.

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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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