N.C. Spending Gap Continues To Widen, Study Finds

By Kerry A. White

The gulf between North Carolina's richest and poorest school districts is widening despite an effort by the legislature to close the gap, a recent study of local school finance says.

The difference between what wealthy and poor counties spend on their students has risen to more than $1,000, according to the report by the Public School Forum in Raleigh. Looking solely at local funds, the 10 wealthiest counties spend $1,441 per student and the bottom 10 spend $431 this year, the study found.

A special fund for small and poor school systems enacted by the legislature in 1991 has generated $41 million to narrow disparities, but once the state help is portioned out, it amounts to only $37 more per student a year for poor...