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Peter A. Jones

Associate Professor of Public Administration and Policy, University of Alabama at Birmingham
Chapter Leader: Alabama SSN
Areas of Expertise:

About Peter

Jones' research focuses on the public budgeting processes and financial management of local and state governments, as well as other government entities like school districts and courts. Overarching themes in Jones's writing include public finance perspectives around education and criminal justice policies, and he has received federal funding to help jurisdictions across the U.S. develop customized reforms for fines and fees in the criminal justice system. Jones recently spearheaded the creation of the Alabama Public Service Training Initiative, and he has previously served on Alabama's State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

Publications

"Do Public Managers Promote Employee Development in Hard-to-Staff Locales?" (with Emily Bedwell, Joshua Cowen, and Eugenia Toma). Public Performance & Management Review 37, no. 4 (2014): 529-551.

Provides evidence that teachers were more likely to participate in professional development when principals also participated.

"The Influence of Charter School Competition on Public School District Revenues across the U.S." Journal of Education Finance 43, no. 4 (2018): 327-359.

Examines the financial response of public school districts as they experience increased competition from charter schools. Suggests that as charter school competition increased, revenues from local and state sources decreased for public school districts.

"Theoretical and Empirical Distributions of the P Value" (with J.S. Butler). Metron 76, no. 1 (2018): 1-30.

Analyzes the theory of p values and summarizes the problems with the null hypothesis statistical tests (NHST). Uses a large data set of public school districts in the United States. Demonstrates empirically the unreliability of p values and hypothesis tests as predicted by the theory.