Prior studies indicate that school quality has a significant impact on house prices in surrounding neighborhoods. However, the mechanism for that impact is clouded in simultaneous equations complexity and causality issues. This study approaches the matter from the perspective of choice variables available to local school administrators and citizens. Specifically, this study constructs two measures of school quality. The first is a standardized score of management variables, including teacher salary, teacher/pupil ratios, teacher tenure, and percentage of teachers with advanced degrees. The second is a measure of support for and participation in gifted and talented programs.

Authors: John A. Kilpatrick, Mundy and Associates, and Frank Hefner, College of Charleston

This study was supported in part by a grant from the South Carolina Center for Applied Real Estate Education and Research. Further support was contributed by the Geographic Information Systems laboratory at the University of South Carolina. (December 28, 1998)

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