Does Investing in School Capital Infrastructure Improve Student Achievement?

•We study the effect of school capital infrastructure on student achievement.•A passed bond can increase student 7th grade reading proficiency rate.•Increased expenditure on construction explains the effects.

Within the research community, there is a vigorous debate over whether additional educational expenditures will lead to improved performance of schools. Some of the debate is an outgrowth of the lack of causal knowledge of the impacts of expenditures on student outcomes. To help fill this void, we examine the causal impact of capital expenditures on school district proficiency rates in Michigan. For the analysis, we employ a regression discontinuity design where we use the outcomes of bond elections as the forcing variable. Our results provide some evidence that capital expenditures can have positive effects on student proficiency levels.