In the Interest of Race

We examine racial discrimination in the market for public school district bonds in the United States. Using National Center for Educational Statistics common core data for 12,083 school districts between 1997 and 2018 (N = 213,315), we find a highly statistically significant (̂ = -0.001, P<0.000) negative relationship between school districts’ racial demographics and the approximate interest rate that district paid on its bonds. Using a Kitagawa-Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition we find that a one percent increase in the number of white students came with a .3 percent decrease in school districts’ approximate interest rate, up to a certain threshold of whiteness. In states with high racial animus, the relationship is even larger: one percent increase of white students lowers the approximate interest rate by one percent. We deepen this quantitative analysis with a qualitative examination of racial discourse in a sample of bond statements (N = 70). We find these statements make little mention of race, despite the statistically significant discount that white schools receive on the municipal bond market. We name this overall dynamic of race-evasive discourse and statistically significant racial discrimination by lenders of school bonds a white interest discount.