Robert Bifulco

• 2024 Spring
  • PAI 722 Quantitative Analysis
• 2023 Fall
  • PAI 803 Quantitative Methods I: Research Methods for Public Administration
  • PAI 800 Selected Topics - Program Evaluation
• 2022 Summer
  • PAI 752 MPA Workshop

Robert Bifulco is a professor in the Public Administration and International Affairs Department at the Maxwell School, as well as a senior research associate in the Center for Policy Research and the Program on Educational Equity and Policy (PEEPs). His prior teaching experience was at University of Connecticut where he received the Distinguished Professor Award. Professor Bifulco has taught courses on public budgeting, state and local finance, economic analysis, education policy, research methods, quantitative analysis and program evaluation. 

Professor Bifulco has had affiliations with CALDER and the Center for Education Policy Analysis (CEPA) at the University of Connecticut. His research has been supported by the Smith Richardson Foundation, the Connecticut State Department of Education, and by the New York State Education Department.

His research focuses on the evaluation of educational policies and programs with specific interests in the interactions of school segregation, school policies and student outcomes. Professor Bifulco has also conducted research on the measurement of school performance, educational resource disparities, and peer effects. He has published articles evaluating whole-school reform, school accountability programs, charter schools, magnet schools, and place-based college scholarship programs, which have appeared in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, Education Finance and Policy, and the American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, among other academic journals.

He has prepared analyses of school finance issues and the design of state aid formulas for Governor M. Jodi Rell’s Commission on Education Finance and for the plaintiffs in the Connecticut school finance case CCJEF v. Rell.

Professor Bifulco received a Ph.D. and an M.P.A. from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School, along with an M.A. and a B.A. in philosophy from Rice and Bucknell Universities, respectively.

"Third Party Evaluation of Say Yes in Buffalo: Phase Two", Sponsored by Say Yes to Education.

"When School Desegregation Ends: Policy Changes and Outcomes: Doctoral Dissertation", Sponsored by National Science Foundation.

"Proposed Third-Party Evaluation of Say Yes in Buffalo", Sponsored by Say Yes to Education.

"Family Choices and Economic Development in Syracuse: An Initial Monitoring Report", Sponsored by Say Yes to Education.

"New York State's Charter School Program: Regulations, Funding and Fiscal Impact", Sponsored by Research Foundation of State University of New York.

Sponsored by Syracuse Office of Undergraduate Research & Creative Engagement (SOURCE) Research Assistant Grant.

• Journal Articles
  • Bifulco Jr, R., Shybalkina, I., "Fiscal Impacts of the Opioid Crisis on State and Local Governments." ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 2022.
  • Bifulco Jr, R., Lewis, M., "The Impacts of COVID-19 on the New York State Budget: A Preliminary Assessment." Municipal Finance Journal, 2020.
  • Bifulco Jr, R., Schwegman, D., "Who Benefits from Accountability-Driven School Closure? Evidence from New York City." Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 2020.
  • Bifulco Jr, R., Rubenstein, R. and Sohn, H., "The Effects of Say Yes to Education on High School Graduation, College Matriculation and College Persistence." Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 2019.
  • Bifulco Jr, R., Shybalkina, I., "Does Participatory Budgeting Direct Public Money to Poor Neighborhoods?." Public Budgeting and Finance, 2019.
  • Bifulco Jr, R., Buerger, C., "The Effect of Charter Schools on District Costs and Efficiency: The Case of New York State." Economics of Education Review, 2019.
  • Bifulco Jr, R., Rubenstein, R. and Sohn, H., "Using Synthetic Controls to Estimate the Effect of Unique Interventions: The Case of Say Yes to Education." Evaluation Review, 2017.
• Book Chapters
  • Bifulco Jr, R., Bulkley, K., "Charter Schools." In Handbook of Research in Education Finance and Policy, 2nd Edition. Ladd, H., Goertz, M. (eds.) Routledge, 2015.
  • Bifulco Jr, R., Buerger, C., "Revenue Volatility in New York State School Districts: Challenges and Responses." In Local Government Budget Stabilization. Hou, Y. (ed.) Springer, 2015.
  • Bifulco Jr, R., "Charter School Location: Evidence and Policy Implications." In Education, Land and Location. Ingram, C. K., Kenyon, D. A. (eds.) Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, 2014.
  • Bifulco Jr, R., Cobb, C. and Bell, C., "Legally Viable Desegregation Policies: The Case of Connecticut." In Integrating Schools in a Changing Society: New Policies and Legal Options of a Multiracial Generation. Frankenberg , E., Debray, E. (eds.) The University of North Carolina Press, 2011.
  • Bifulco Jr, R., Bulkley, K., "Charter Schools." In Handbook of Research in Education Finance and Policy. Ladd, H., Fiske, E. (eds.) Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2008.
  • Bifulco Jr, R., Ladd, H., "Charter Schools in North Carolina." In Charter Schools: What Fosters Growth and Outcomes. Berends, M., Springer, M. and Walberg, H. (eds.) Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2007.
  • Bifulco Jr, R., "Can Whole-School Reform Improve the Productivity of Urban Schools: The Evidence on Three Models." In Fiscal Policy in Urban Schools. Roelke , C., Rice, J. K. (eds.) Information Age Publishing, 2002.
• Journal Reviews
  • Bifulco Jr, R., Review of “Connecticut’s Charter School Law & Race to the Top!”. Boulder and Tempe: Education and the Public Interest Center & Education Policy Research Unit, 2010.
  • Bifulco Jr, R., "Review of Spin Cycle: How Research is Used in Policy Debates: The Case of Charter Schools by Jeffrey R. Henig." Journal of Economic Literature, 2009.
  • Bifulco Jr, R., Review of “The Impact of Milwaukee Charter Schools on Student Achievement.”. Boulder and Tempe: Education and the Public Interest Center & Education Policy Research Unit. , 2009.
  • Bifulco Jr, R., "Review of The Political Economy of Education: Implications for Growth and Inequality by Mark Gradstein, Moshe Justman, and Volker Meie." Economics of Education Review, 2007.
  • Bifulco Jr, R., Ladd, H., "The Truth About Charter Schools: Results from the Tar Heel State." Education Next, 2005.
• Newspaper Article
  • Bifulco Jr, R., Ladd, H., "Charter Schools are Hurting Student Achievement." Raleigh News and Observer, 2004.
• Technical Reports
  • Bifulco Jr, R., Rubenstein, R. and Sohn, H., "Evaluating the Effects of the Say Yes to Education Program in Buffalo, NY: Phase II Final Report." Submitted to the Say Yes Foundation, 2020.
  • Bifulco Jr, R., Rubenstein, R. and Sohn, H., "Evaluating the Effects of the Say Yes to Education Program in Buffalo, NY: Third-Year Report." Submitted to the Say Yes Foundation, 2016.
  • Bifulco Jr, R., Rubenstein, R. and Sohn, H., "Evaluating the Effects of the Say Yes to Education Program in Buffalo, NY: Second-Year Report." Submitted to the Say Yes Foundation, 2015.
  • Bifulco Jr, R., Rubenstein, R. and Sohn, H., "Evaluating the Effects of the Say Yes to Education Program in Buffalo, NY: First-Year Report." Submitted to the Say Yes Foundation, 2014.
  • Bifulco Jr, R., Reback, R., "Effect of New York Charter Schools on School District Finances." Submitted to New York State Education Department and the Education Finance Research Consortium at SUNY Albany, 2011.
  • Bifulco Jr, R., Searcy, C., "A Tale of Two Cities: Charter School Resource Allocation and Facility Financing in Albany and Buffalo." Submitted to New York State Education Department and the Education Finance Research Consortium at SUNY Albany, 2011.
  • Bifulco Jr, R., Baker, B., "Evaluating Connecticut’s Education Cost Sharing Program, School Funding and Educational Resources." Submitted to Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding and the Yale Law School Education Adequacy Clinic, 2011.
• Working Paper
  • Bifulco Jr, R., Unterman , R. and Bloom, H., "The Relative Costs of New York City’s New Small Public High Schools of Choice." MDRC, 2014.

Association of Public Policy Analysis and Management, "The Impact of School Boundary Changes on Racial Integration and Student Outcomes: Evidence from North Carolina" (November 11, 2023)

Association of Public Budgeting and Financial Management, "OPEB Funding Options: Balancing Intergenerational Equity, Sustainability, and Risk" (October 27, 2023)

University of Kentucky, "Racial Disparities in School Poverty and Spending: Examining Allocations Within and Across Districts" (October 14, 2022)

Association of Budgeting and Financial Management, "The FIscal Sustainability of OPEB Among New York State School Districts" (September 23, 2022)

Association of Education Finance & Policy Annual Conference, "Between and Within-District Racial Disparities in Funding" (March 18, 2022)

Social and Community Consequences of the Opioid Epidemic, The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Authors Conference, ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, "Fiscal Impacts of the Opioid Crisis on State and Local Governments: How Big?" (January 27, 2022 - January 28, 2022)

Bifulco Jr, R., Lewis, M., Rockefeller Institute of Government, "Budgetary Impacts of Retiree Health Care Benefits on Local School Districts" (June 9, 2021)

Association of Public Policy Analysis and Management, "School Closures and Teachers: A Case Study of New York City" (November 13, 2020)

NASPAA, NASPAA, "Covering Data Analytics for MPA Students: Towards an Instructional Framework" (October 17, 2019)

Excellence in Teaching Award, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Executive Education Program (2021 - 2021)

National Academy of Public Administration Fellow, National Academy of Public Administration (2018)

American Education Research Association's Outstanding Reviewer Award Recipient, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis (2014)

American Education Research Association's Outstanding Reviewer Award Recipient, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis (2013)

American Education Research Association's Outstanding Reviewer Award Recipient, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis (2009)