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Fracking for Funding in Appalachian Ohio: Power and Powerlessness

Yahn, Jacqueline J.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1489747635762163

Abstract Details

2017, Doctor of Education (EdD), Ohio University, Educational Administration (Education).
The shale gas rush, commonly called the fracking boom, began in Appalachian Ohio in 2010. The region was of interest to oil and gas companies that wanted to invest in the Marcellus and Utica shale located beneath many of the state's 32 Appalachian counties. This qualitative study took place in seven of these counties--Belmont, Carroll, Columbiana, Guernsey, Harrison, Monroe, and Noble--where many public school districts decided to lease district owned property to oil and gas companies for exploration and drilling. This study considers how Appalachian Ohio superintendents and treasurers navigated the pressures and responsibilities of entering into legally binding agreements with natural gas companies. Semi-structured interviews with 20 superintendents, treasurers, and educational service center administrators were conducted along with document analysis of 52 financial documents: 24 independent audits from fiscal years 2010 and 2015; 23 five-year forecast assumptions from fiscal years 2010 and 2016; and five performance audits conducted between 2004-2015. Participants in the study reported that the decision to lease was first, and foremost, financial, depicting it as a way to pay down debt or invest in capital outlay and academics. Six major findings emerged from the study: 1) Participants reported they were moderate pro-actionists who were cognizant that fracking is a boom to bust industry. 2) Revenue earned by school districts from leasing deals and value-added opportunities is a stopgap. 3) Value-added opportunities (e.g. ad-valorem taxes) provided revenue opportunities beyond initial leasing deals. 4) Participants were able to engage new initiatives focused on educating-in, or reversing the propagation of what some scholars call the rural brain drain. 5) Revenue from fracking was invested with the bigger financial picture in mind. 6) As the fracking boom was unfolding, the potential for long-term powerlessness loomed for many districts and their surrounding communities. Leasing deals seldom proved to significantly enhance the power of school districts to operate with a greater financial autonomy. Instead, participants in this study often employed metis, or local practical knowledge, to gain alternate forms of power for their school districts and communities.
Frans Doppen, Dr. (Advisor)
William Larson, Dr. (Committee Member)
Charles Lowery, Dr. (Committee Member)
Geoffrey Buckley, Dr. (Committee Member)
197 p.
Education Finance; Educational Leadership; School Administration; School Finance
school finance; fracking; Appalachia; Ohio; rural schools; resource extraction; public schools; superintendent; treasurer; hydraulic fracturing; natural gas; policy and leadership

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Yahn, J. J. (2017). Fracking for Funding in Appalachian Ohio: Power and Powerlessness [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1489747635762163

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Yahn, Jacqueline. Fracking for Funding in Appalachian Ohio: Power and Powerlessness . 2017. Ohio University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1489747635762163.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Yahn, Jacqueline. "Fracking for Funding in Appalachian Ohio: Power and Powerlessness ." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1489747635762163

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ohiou1489747635762163
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This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.