Black History Month blog post: ‘Inequity Is Embedded in School Finance

Here are some top lines from the report:

  • Education opportunity in the United States is highly unequal. The poorest districts, on average, spend 17 percent below estimated adequate levels. Meanwhile, the highest-income districts spend 36 percent above adequate levels.
  • There are stark discrepancies in funding by student race and ethnicity. Black and Latinx students are twice as likely as white students to be in underfunded districts. Spending for the typical Black student’s district is 21 percent below adequate. By contrast, spending is 21 percent above adequate levels in the typical white student’s district.
  • In 20 states, K-12 funding is regressive, meaning the poorest districts (which need the funding most) get less funding than higher-income districts.

Read the entire piece here from February 1, 2022 by Fedrick Ingram