Per Pupil Expenditures and School District Accreditation: What Does the Total Per Pupil Expenditure Indicator in the 1993 Mississippi Report Card Really Mean?

The 1993 Mississippi Report Card was the result of legislative and accountability processes. The state's Education Reform Act of 1982 created a mandate to establish a performance-based school-accreditation system. This paper presents findings of a study that disaggregated and analyzed the total per-pupil expenditure indicators in the 1993 Mississippi Report Card in order to clarify the relationship between financial indicators and accreditation ratings. The study population consisted of all 149 school districts in Mississippi. Findings indicate that the total per-pupil expenditure indicator is not clear and comparable as mandated by state statutes; does not present an accurate assessment of the relationship between school-district accreditation and financial factors; and does not discriminate sufficiently in assigning school districts into accreditation levels 1-5. It is recommended that the evaluation use additional financial-indicator variables, such as school district transportation funding and free-lunch funding. Another suggestion is to conduct further studies to find out why districts in accreditation levels 1 and 2 are not spending an equivalent per-pupil expenditure on instruction, compared to districts in levels 3 and 5. Nine tables are included. (Contains 22 references.) (LMI)