The politics of bilingual education expenditures in urban school districts

Objective. This article examines the political, demographic, and fiscal det erminants of urban school district spending on bilingual education. Methods . It applies OLS regression analysis to the 1992 Council of Urban Boards of Education (CUBE) survey and U.S. census data. Results. Bilingual expenditu res are associated not just with student enrollment in bilingual education programs, but also with the percentage of Latinos and Asian Americans on th e local school board, median family income, which is likely a proxy for pol icy liberalism, and state and local spending. The percentage of women on sc hool boards may also play a role. Conclusions. Spending is not simply deter mined by the objective need for bilingual education services. Multiple poli tical factors are at work.