Decentralization and Policy Experimentation in Education: the Consequences of Enhancing Local Autonomy in California

Abstract

Abstract A hypothesized benefit of decentralization is that it will promote policy experimentation, yet there have been few studies examining this link. In this article, I identify three pathways through which decentralization could plausibly lead to greater experimentation and empirically assess their presence through an analysis of California’s Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), a policy that enhanced the fiscal autonomy of local school districts. I find mixed results; even though there was some evidence to suggest greater policy activity, most new actions taken by school districts were incremental changes. Further, there was little ideological differentiation in adopted policies despite variation in districts’ partisan composition. Small districts were slightly more likely to experiment than larger ones, supporting the hypothesis that smaller jurisdictions are more nimble and flexible and thus more likely to enact policy change. I conclude by exploring how the incentives and preferences of local officials mediate the causal connection between decentralization and policy experimentation.