In the New York Times article “Racial Patterns Are Found in Recent School Budget Elections,” Sam Roberts explores the connections between race and age patterns and school budget decisions.  He found that:

Budgets tended to fare worse in districts with a large number of white voters and a large number of nonwhite students. And in the four districts in the state where the majority of registered voters are white and nonwhite students make up the majority of the school population, the budgets were defeated.

After analyzing the budget vote results for the NYT, Social Explorer’s Andrew Beveridge explained that:

In New York, it appears that white voters in districts with large numbers of minorities, and minority voters themselves, often voted against school spending increases…This very well might undercut educational opportunities for such minorities, while depressing property values in districts with a substantial share of minorities. It may increase the statewide gap between blacks and whites in both school performance and wealth.

Click here to read the whole article.