From Building Blocks to Cell Blocks: An Analysis of the Effect of Public School Funding on Juvenile Delinquency

In this study, the primary question that is addressed is that of whether there exists a relationship between juvenile arrest rates and public school funding. Using publically available FBI arrest data, data from the Current Population Survey (CPS), and Census data, I used two OLS models to answer this question. The first model suggested that there was no statistically significant correlation between school spending per child and juvenile arrest rates. However, it indicated that juvenile arrest rates were correlated with median income, percentage of children below the poverty line, percentage of Black, Hispanic, and Mixed children in the state. The second model had conflicting results. The model suggested that with a $1000 increase in school spending per child, there would be a 0.46 percentage point decrease in juvenile arrest rates. In addition, it maintained that there was a statistically significant correlation between median income and juvenile arrest rates; however, the direction of the effect was positive.