Education Funding

State K-12 Spending Is Inequitable and Inadequate. See Where Yours Ranks

By Mark Lieberman — October 28, 2021 4 min read
Collage of figures and money texture.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

In close to two dozen states, high-poverty schools get less money per student or just the same amount as low-poverty schools, a new report shows, despite abundant evidence that high-poverty schools benefit from more robust investment.

A new analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data also shows wide disparities in how evenly school funding is distributed. On average, schools in the U.S. spend roughly $15,000 per student. But within states, average funding ranges from roughly $9,700 per student in Arizona to roughly $26,700 in New York. That’s a difference of roughly $17,000 per student.

These figures are among the findings in the annual “Making the Grade” report published Thursday by the Education Law Center.

They highlight the longstanding reality of U.S. public school funding: Per-student spending ranges widely from state to state and varies considerably from year to year, depending on property values, tax revenues, budgetary constraints, and political conditions. A highly complex and chaotic school finance system leaves thousands of schools with inadequate resources and millions of students with insufficient opportunities to learn.

Schools in more than half of U.S. states get fewer dollars per student than the national average. In 12 of those states, average school funding is more than $3,000 below the national average.

All of these 2019 figures are adjusted for regional differences and omit federal funds, which make up just 8 percent of the nation’s K-12 education investment.

The report’s authors, Danielle Farrie and David Sciarra of the Education Law Center, argue that these massive disparities reinforce the need for more federal support for the nation’s public school system. Ideally, they write, expanded federal funding would spur states to ramp up their own investment, rather than giving them cover to make cuts.

They’re pushing for Congress to pass President Joe Biden’s fiscal year 2022 federal budget proposal that includes $20 billion in “equity grants” for states that take steps to make their school funding formulas more equitable.

“Current dollars from Title I and other recurring federal sources are simply too small to improve the overall funding of public education in the states,” they write.

Several states, including Tennessee and Vermont, are currently in the process of revamping their funding formulas. In several others, like Arizona and Pennsylvania, legal challenges to school funding formulas aim to improve public school offerings and address historical inequities. In North Carolina, a federal judge is urging lawmakers to quickly add billions of dollars to the state’s education budget or face reprisal.

Some states invest more, and a higher percentage of their overall budgets

The report assigns states a grade of A through F in three areas:

Funding Level: How much money schools get;

Funding Distribution: Whether high-poverty schools get more money per student than low-poverty schools;

Funding effort: How much schools get relative to a state’s overall gross domestic product.

Wyoming is the only state to receive an A grade in all three metrics. Only one other state, Alaska, received only A and B grades. (Vermont received an A for funding level and funding effort, but didn’t receive a score for funding distribution because of data reporting inconsistencies, the report says.)

States that scored the highest on the report’s funding distribution category allocate more funding to schools with at least 30 percent of students from families in poverty than to schools with fewer than 5 percent of students in poverty.

High-poverty schools in Utah, for instance, get 57 percent more funding than the state’s low-poverty schools. But in most states, students in high-poverty schools get the same amount of funding, or up to 1 percent less, than students in low-poverty schools. In Illinois, for instance, low-poverty schools get roughly $19,000 per student, while high-poverty schools get $15,500 per student on average. Those numbers followed the state’s 2017 school funding formula revamp, which was designed to resolve longstanding inequities..

Current dollars from Title I and other recurring federal sources are simply too small to improve the overall funding of public education in the states.

Two states, Florida and Nevada, got an F on all three measures. Five more states—Alabama, Arizona, North Carolina, Tennessee and Utah—got two F grades out of three. Another 15 states got one F grade.

States invest annually anywhere from 2.3 percent (Arizona) to 5.9 percent (Vermont) of their overall GDP in public K-12 schools. Twenty-seven states invest below the national average of 3.37 percent.

How the status quo can change

Farrie and Sciarra advocate for expanding federal aid to high-need students and for offering incentives to states that take tangible steps to close equity gaps.

Longer-term, though, they argue that broad political consensus will be the best mechanism for achieving a school funding system that works for all students.

“Only sustained political campaigns focused on strengthening public education can change the trajectory in states that, for decades, shortchanged students of an adequate education,” they write.

Recent efforts to push states to opt into a federal expansion of the Medicaid health insurance program offer a roadmap for the advocacy that may be necessary to prod schools to spend more on education, the report says.

Many states have been reluctant to join the program despite widespread public support and a broad consensus that it’s a fiscally responsible path to take.

States that take a similar approach in response to federal incentives for equity-minded K-12 finance reforms would lose “the long-term benefits that would come from greater investment, such as improved educational outcomes, reduced racial disparities, and economic growth,” Farrie and Sciarra write.

Events

School Climate & Safety Webinar Engaging Every Student: How to Address Absenteeism and Build Belonging
Gain valuable insights and practical solutions to address absenteeism and build a more welcoming and supportive school environment.
Student Well-Being K-12 Essentials Forum Social-Emotional Learning 2025: Examining Priorities and Practices
Join this free virtual event to learn about SEL strategies, skills, and to hear from experts on the use and expansion of SEL programs.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Professional Development Webinar
Inside PLCs: Proven Strategies from K-12 Leaders
Join an expert panel to explore strategies for building collaborative PLCs, overcoming common challenges, and using data effectively.
Content provided by Otus

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Funding Trump Spending Freeze Hits Roadblocks: How Schools Are Coping With Chaos
The Trump administration appeared to halt the planned funding freeze, but district leaders remain cautious.
6 min read
President Donald Trump speaks in Emancipation Hall after the 60th Presidential Inauguration, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington.
President Donald Trump speaks in Emancipation Hall after the 60th Presidential Inauguration on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. His administration's order to pause potentially trillions of dollars in federal spending this week sent school districts scrambling to figure out which funds might be halted.
Al Drago/AP
Education Funding Trump’s Federal Funding Freeze Was Blocked. But Confusion Among Schools Remains
The order sent school districts and others scrambling to determine which federal funds for schools could be stopped.
9 min read
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Washington.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks with reporters at the White House, Jan. 28, 2025, in Washington. She spoke about a pause in federal funding the Trump administration ordered this week as it reviews grants and programs to determine whether they violate executive orders cracking down on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, as well as "gender ideology."
Alex Brandon/AP
Education Funding These High Schoolers Are Suing for Better Schools. Can They Win?
A new lawsuit joins others currently challenging states to follow constitutional requirements for public education.
8 min read
school funding lawsuits 836865720
z_wei/iStock/Getty Images Plus
Education Funding Rural Schools Are Set to Lose Key Federal Funds—Unless Congress Acts Fast
Thousands of districts near national forest land could lose money as the Secure Rural Schools Act expires.
7 min read
Image of a student about to board a school bus in the morning.
iStock/Getty