ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the economics of urban education. Economics of urban education is viewing the features of urban education through economics lens. It explores the interconnectivity of inequality in education and the economy and posits that the inequality in education is a reinforcing product of the inequality in society. The chapter argues that students of color are receiving stark unequal resources beyond school funding. Education and the economy in urban areas are linked in profound ways. Relative funding is a central concept underlying the relationship between education and the economy. The educational landscape is mired in inequality that mirrors society. Sociologist Prudence Carter has highlighted that racial and economic inequality is a product of sociohistorical and political phenomena that have shaped social boundaries. The application of economic theory to urban education policy is not a new concept.
