How local and state charter school competition reshape the financial condition of Georgia's traditional public school districts (TPSDs), 2014–15 through 2018–19.
Georgia Milestones EOG Lexile scores (GOSA), charter school annual reports (GADOE, NCES), district financial and demographic data (NCES, GOSA), property tax digests (GAAO), ACS 5-year estimates, teacher cost index (CWIFT), and BLS wage data — merged into a district-year panel.
Local and state charter competition significantly reshape TPSD financial condition, with different effects by funding design. Local charter competition (2SLS) is associated with a $10.19 per-pupil decrease in the own-source revenue gap and a similar decline in the fiscal gap — districts respond by drawing down revenue reserves rather than raising expenditures. State charter competition improves the own-source revenue gap but widens the fiscal gap through declines in intergovernmental aid, with districts holding expenditures steady by leaning harder on the local tax base. Georgia's state funding system amplifies these fiscal externalities rather than neutralizing them.