Michah W. Rothbart

• 2025 Fall
  • PAI 731 Financial Management in State and Local Governments
  • PAI 300 Selected Topics - Fin Manage for Public Policy
• 2025 Summer
  • PAI 734 Public Budgeting

Michah W. Rothbart is an associate professor of public administration and international affairs in the Maxwell School at Syracuse University and is a senior research associate in the Center for Policy Research. His research and teaching interests are in public finance and financial management, particularly in the fields of education and food policy.

His current research includes the relationships between social welfare participation, pre-kindergarten utilization, and school readiness; the consequences of COVID-19 on student health and academic outcomes; the causes, effects and measurement of student absenteeism; and the impact of universal free meals on schools and students. He received a Ph.D. in public administration from New York University and an M.P.A. and a B.S. from Cornell University.

"Equitable Access in Washington, DC - Pilot Study Proposal:_Doctoral Dissertation Research", Sponsored by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

"COVID-19, Vaccinations and School/ Community Resources: Children's longitudinal health and education outcomes using linked administrative data.", Sponsored by National Institutes of Health.

"SNAP Uptake and School Readiness in Virginia", Sponsored by Department of Agriculture.

"Does Universal Free School Meals Reduce Childhood Obesity?", Sponsored by Department of Agriculture.

"The RELIEF Study: Removing Legal Financial Obligations to Promote Health and Equity", Sponsored by New York University.

• Journal Articles
  • Han, J., Rothbart, M. W., "Administrative Burden in the Cafeteria: Evidence from School Meal Participation in Shared Buildings." The American Review of Public Administration, 2025.
  • Lindenfeld, Z., Silver, D., Mauri, A. I. and Rothbart, M. W., "Beyond social determinants: Fiscal determinants of overdose death in U.S counties, 2017–2020." Social Science & Medicine, 2025.
  • Rothbart, M. W., Morrissey, T. W., "Beyond the Classroom: The Broader Effects of Public Preschool Expansion on Children’s Early Educational Experiences and Early Literacy Skills." Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 2024.
  • Elbel, B., Heng, L., Konty, K. J., Day, S. E., Rothbart, M. W., Abrams, C., Lee, D. C., Thorpe, L. E. and Ellen Schwartz, A., "COVID-19 vaccines for children: Racial and ethnic disparities in New York City." Preventive Medicine Reports, 2023.
  • Rothbart, M. W., Schwartz, A. E. and Gutierrez, E., "Paying for Free Lunch: The Impact of CEP Universal Free Meals on Revenues, Spending, and Student Health." Education Finance and Policy, 2023.
  • Rothbart, M. W., Heflin, C., "Inequality in literacy skills at kindergarten entry at the intersections of social programs and race." Children and Youth Services Review, 2023.
  • Rothbart, M. W., Schwegman, D. and Shybalkina, I., "The Impact of Pork-Barrel Capital Funding in Schools." Public Budgeting & Finance, 2022.
  • Rothbart, M. W., Schwegman, D. J. and Shybalkina, I., "The impact of pork‐barrel capital funding in schools: Evidence from participatory budgeting in NYC." Public Budgeting & Finance, 2022.
  • Heflin, C., Rothbart, M. W. and Mackenzie-Liu, M., "Below the Tip of the Iceberg: Examining Early Childhood Participation in SNAP and TANF from Birth to Age Six." Population Research and Policy Review, 2022.
  • Horrace, W. C., Rothbart, M. W. and Yang, Y., "Technical efficiency of public middle schools in New York City." Economics of Education Review, 2022.
  • Rothbart, M. W., Yoon, N., "Do Minimum Charity Care Provision Requirements Increase Nonprofit Hospital Performance? Examining Hospitals’ Responses to Regulatory Changes." Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 2022.
  • Silver, D., Rothbart, M. W. and Bae, J. Y., "By the Letter of Law? The Effects of Administrative Adjudication for Resolving Disputes in NYC’s Restaurant Grading Initiative." The American Review of Public Administration, 2021.
• Book Chapters
  • Souders, S., Rothbart, M. W. and Schwartz, A. E., "Weighted Student Funding with Alternatives to Free and Reduced-Price Lunch Eligibility Data." In What Comes After Lunch? Alternative Measures of Economic and Social Disadvantage and Their Implications for Education Research. Downes, T., Killeen, K. M. (eds.) Emerald Publishing Limited, 2024.
  • Rothbart, M. W., "Cutting Back State Aid to School Districts in the COVID Era: Consequences for Racial Funding Equity in New York State." In Recent Advancements in Education Finance and Policy. Downes, T., Killen, K. (eds.) , 2022.
  • Rothbart, M. W., "Cutting Back State Aid to School Districts in the Covid Era." In Recent Advancements in Education Finance and Policy. Emerald Publishing Limited, 2022.
• Newspaper Article
  • Rothbart, M. W., "If we're fighting a war, then we need a new GI Bill." The Hill, 2020.
• Policy Briefs
  • Rothbart, M. W., Heflin, C. and Alphonso, G., "Children in Economically Disadvantaged Households Have Lower Early Literacy Skills than their Higher-Income Peers." In Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion: Population Health Research Brief Series. , 2023.
  • Trajkovski, S., Schwartz, A. E. and Rothbart, M. W., "Exposure to Free School Meals in Kindergarten Has Lasting Positive Effects on Students’ Attendance." In Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion: Population Health Research Brief Series . , 2023.
  • Rothbart, M. W., Schwartz, A. E., "Let More Schools Offer Free Lunch for All." Education Next: Forum, 2022.
  • Rothbart, M. W., Yoon, N., "Do Minimum Charity Care Provision Requirements Increase Provision of Charity Care in Nonprofit Hospitals?." Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion: Population Health Research Brief Series, 2021.
  • Heflin, C., Rothbart, M. W. and Mackenzie Liu, M., "Strengthening SNAP and TANF is Essential to Support Children in Early Childhood." Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion: Population Health Research Brief Series, 2021.
  • Schwartz, A. E., Rothbart, M. W., "Let Them Eat Lunch: The Impact of Universal Free Meals on Student Performance." Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion: Population Health Research Brief Series, 2020.
  • Rothbart, M. W., Schwartz, A. E., "Universal Free Meals (UFM) raises student test scores in New York." Ridge Program Spotlight, 2019.
• Technical Report
  • Rothbart, M. W., Han, J. and Reeves, Z., Do Schools Have the Capacity to Provide Free Meals to Every Student?. Syracuse University Libraries, 2025.

Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management Conference, "Forecasting Teacher Shortages: Projecting Hiring Needs and the New Teacher Pipeline in New York State" (2025)

Association for Education Finance and Policy Conference, "Impact of Means-Tested Pre-K on SNAP Participation: Evidence from Virginia" (2025)

What’s at Stake Panel, The Maxwell School Center for Policy Research, The Maxwell School Center for Policy Research, "The Proposed Dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education: What’s at Stake?" (2025)

Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management Conference, "Impact of Means-Tested Pre-K on SNAP Participation: Evidence from Virginia" (2024)

Syracuse Law Review Symposium on Education Access and Equity, Syracuse Law Review, "Towards Inclusive K-12 Education: Rights, Restrictions, and Reforms" (October 14, 2023 - October 14, 2023)

University of Delaware Biden School of Public Policy & Administration, "Beyond the Classroom: The Broader Effects of Public Preschool Expansion on Children’s Early Educational Experiences and Early Literacy Skills" (2023)

Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management Conference, "Do Peers Influence Covid-19 Vaccination Take-up? Evidence from New York City public schools" (2023)

Association for Budgeting and Financial Management Conference, "Hold Harmless or Hidden Benefits: Consequences for Resources and Student Outcomes" (2023)

Association for Education Finance and Policy Conference, "Racial Disparities in COVID Risk at Schools" (2023)

COVID-19 and Policy: Looking Backward and Looking Forward Conference, The Maxwell School, "Racial Disparities in COVID Risk at Schools" (2023)

NYU Food Studies Program, "The Impact of the Universal Free Meals and Other Policy Levers to Improve Food Security" (2023)

NYU/Federal Reserve Bank of New York Fiscal Policy Breakfast Series, "Cutting Back State Aid to School Districts in the COVID Era: Consequences for Racial Funding Equity in New York State" (2022)

NYU Food Studies Program, "Inequality in Kindergarten Literacy Skills at the Intersections of Social Programs and Race" (2022)

Association for Education Finance and Policy Conference, "Low Income Children’s Participation Across Public Programs: Public Pre-K, Child Care Subsidies, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program" (2022)

Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management Conference, "Low Income Children’s Participation Across Public Programs: Public Pre-K, Child Care Subsidies, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program" (2022)

What’s at Stake Panel, The Maxwell School Center for Policy Research, The Maxwell School Center for Policy Research, "What’s at Stake for U.S. Food Security?: Implications of the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health" (2022)

Recent Advancements in Education Finance and Policy Convening, "Cutting Back State Aid to School Districts in the COVID Era: Consequences for Racial Funding Equity in New York State" (2021)

NYU Food Studies Program, "Implications of Food Safety Inspections for Public Policy and Finance" (2021)

Association for Education Finance and Policy Conference, "Public Pre-Kindergarten Availability and School Readiness: Which Students Benefit?" (2021)

Birkhead-Burkhead Teaching Excellence Award and Professorship, Department of Public Administration and International Affairs, The Maxwell School, Syracuse University (2019)