An analysis from Rebecca Sibilia (founder of a new group called EdBuild) looks at differences in how states allocate resources to the neediest districts. The findings are particularly striking because 41 states actually give their neediest students a smaller share of resources, spending more in wealthier districts than in high-poverty districts, and compounding the inequalities already exist.
Research has shown that areas of “concentrated poverty,” defined as areas in which 40% of people are at or below the federal poverty line, have compounding difficulties in effectively educating students. This is one of the key reasons why those states who don’t currently have progressive funding, or funding that channels money toward needier areas, should reconsider their policies to help those students in greatest need. Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, and New Jersey are states that are already headed in the right direction, according to EdBuild’s analysis.
Because school funding largely comes from property taxes, poor districts also get caught in a Catch-22 in which property there isn’t worth much, so property taxes must be raised, so prospective new families who might move into the area and help improve it are scared off by the high property taxes. This is the sort of situation that cannot change without help from progressive state policies.
For more information, please visit: http://edbuild.org/blog/2015/map-41-states
