Fourteen states have been hit hardest by sequestration—5 percent across-the-board cuts that affected districts this year and are slated to be in place for a decade—largely because they are more dependent on federal funding than others.
A report last month by the AASA, the School Superintendents Association, found that more than half the districts in Arkansas, Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and West Virginia rely on the federal government for 15 percent or more of their revenue.
More than 6 percent of schools nationwide rely on the federal government for 25 percent or more of their total revenues. The national average was 11.8 percent for the 2011-12 school year, according to the report.