Much of the discussion about education this fall, centers around school spending and differences among school districts.
How big is the spending disparity between school districts in North Carolina? Not as big as the gap in other states.
Governing magazine recently ranked states by differences in spending per student across their districts, expressed by a coefficient of variation. Of the forty-nine states ranked (Hawaii and the District of Columbia were excluded because each consists of a single school district), North Carolina ranked 46 of 49 states.
According to Department of Public Instruction spending data for 2016-17, Hyde County had the highest spending per student at $17,719 per student in 2016, while Lincoln County — the district with the lowwest per pupil spending — spent less than half that amount ($8,151). But again, these are the extremes.
Spending gaps exist. However, the important question is to ask is; why? In this case the high spending in Hyde County derives from a relatively small district and funding model that awards additional federal or state funding for such things as poor or at-risk students, low wealth districts, disadvantaged populations and special needs students. The differential is not a result of comparing a high-income district that spends a lot on education against a poor district that does not.
How North Carolina funds schools — 63 percent of all school costs comes from the state — helps to moderate the wide fluctuations in district spending that come from systems that are more dependent on local property taxes for funding.
There are many reasons why we should revamp how we fund public schools in North Carolina. It’s not accurate to say however we need to overhaul the system because of the disparities in spending. It’s an argument that lacks evidence.