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The purpose of this paper is to explore why school districts in the USA made so little use of local sources of non-tax revenues, even when faced with declines in traditional revenue as occurred during the Great Recession? The analysis uses the case of Colorado, where historically districts have made more use of alternative revenues.

Data for the analysis are drawn from the NCES’s Common Core of Data with administrative data to create a panel of Colorado school districts. The paper presents estimates of traditional panel models, as well as spatial panel models, that give the correlates of variation in alternative revenue for education.

As is true nationally, in Colorado school districts made no increased use of non-tax revenues in fiscal downturns, while the presence of expenditure limits does increase use, though not as might be expected. Revenues from overrides of the limits and alternative local revenues appear to be complements. Further, there is no evidence of spatial relationships for the alternative revenue sources considered.

This paper uses richer data than has ever been used to explore the determinants of alternative revenues, making it possible to explore relationships others could not. In addition, synthetic cohort analysis is used to generate plausible instrumental variables for passage of an override of an expenditure limitation. Further, no existing analysis of nontraditional revenues considers the possibility that use of those revenues might be spatially correlated.

The purpose of this article is to report on a six‐year self‐study of a doctoral training program intended to promote social justice leadership via an “ethic of care” framework.

The primary data set utilized was an open‐ended survey completed by doctoral students after finishing core course requirements. Data analysis included a thematic analysis of 110 respondents which examined variation in students' understanding and application of issues associated with equity, justice, and diversity, as well as the ethic of care. As a collaborative self‐study the data analysis involved procedures of open, independent, and collaborative coding, as well as peer debriefing.

Suggests that the doctoral program has been effective at creating a caring environment and changing students' understanding of diversity and equity issues. Two programmatic weaknesses were uncovered; a lack of curricular integration and student perceptions of social justice and diversity as discrete concepts. Students reported that diversity discussions and readings were centered in one class, suggesting that this lack of integration may marginalize these issues. These weaknesses are explored using the concepts of “caring” and “colorblind” curriculums.

Reports on a self‐study of one unique program; the findings may not be generalizable to other programs. Additionally, it suggests that leadership preparation programs should attend to how the issue of colorblindness may permeate curricula, structure the classroom environment, and shape interactions with students.

This paper is among the first to evaluate the potential for colorblindness in the “ethic of care” as related to supporting social justice leadership in a doctoral preparation program.