PREFERENCES OF SENIOR CITIZENS FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION

Syracuse University, Syracuse NY

Investigators

Abstract

The significant increase in the projected older population in the next two decades and the evidence of consistently higher voter turnout by senior citizens raises questions about how and whether older voters will have substantial effects on local government taxing and spending decisions. Concern exists that senior voters may reduce the size of local governments and re-prioritize the services they provide away from child- related services, such as education. Despite claims of a "gray peril", the diverse research on the preferences and voting patterns of the elderly are far from conclusive. The general objective of this project is to develop a multi-dimensional survey methodology for examining senior citizens preferences for local services and to apply it to public education. Our methodology involves a unique combination of two survey instruments; 1) a contingent valuation survey instrument for assessing senior citizen preferences tied to an actual school budget referendum, and 2) a post election poll of the same households to assess the consistency of revealed preferences with actual voting behavior. We will pilot-test our surveys on two school districts in New York, and will completed a detailed analysis of the survey results and an evaluation of our approach.