How fair is school funding in your state? - The Washington Post

How fair is school funding in your state? - The Washington Post

Report: Wide disparities in how states/localities fund public schools. Here’s a state-by-state comparison.

How much money do states and localities spend on public K-12 education nationwide?

A new report reveals wide disparities in the amounts schools receive from state and local governments, which together appropriate most of the funding that K-12 districts receive.

According to “Making the Grade 2019: How Fair Is School Funding in Your State?," published by the nonprofit Education Law Center, the highest combined state and local funding is in Vermont, at $27,588. The lowest is in Nevada, with $8,569. The national average is $14,046 per pupil. All of the figures are from 2017, the latest data available.

The report said:

• Public school funding has still not recovered from the sharp and deep cuts enacted during the Great Recession more than a decade ago; nearly half of all states have yet to return to pre-2008 inflation-adjusted funding levels.
• Widespread teacher protests and strikes have elevated the issue of school funding as a policy and budget priority in numerous states.
• Frustration with elected officials’ refusal to revamp funding formulas and increase state investment in their public school systems has triggered lawsuits in at least 10 states challenging chronic underfunding, glaring resource deficits and low student outcomes.

The report evaluates education funding through three lenses:

• Funding level — the cost-adjusted, per‐pupil revenue from state and local sources.
• Funding distribution — the extent to which additional funding is distributed to school districts with high levels of student poverty.
• Funding effort — the level of investment in K-12 public education as a percentage of state wealth (GDP) allocated to maintain and support the state school system.

This isn’t a new phenomenon, of course; there have been a number of reports in years past, such as this CONTINUE READING: How fair is school funding in your state? - The Washington Post