Fair funding report raises question about NY’s school spending
The Rutgers University report on equitable school funding released today highlights that how a state distributes its education funds could matter as much as how much it spends.
The report ranked New York close to the bottom among states in terms of how much it spends on impoverished students compared to students in low-poverty districts. (The full report is below.)
The top-ranked state, Utah, spends one and a half times more per student in needy districts than in districts with no impoverished students. By contrast, in New York, districts with high concentrations of students in poverty spend just over 80 percent of what the wealthiest districts spend.
Geri Palast, executive director of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity, said the analysis pointed to the need to re-work how the state doles out money among school districts.
“In an era where we continue to impose ever greater standards on school kids, the fact that funding inequality