|
|
|
| Current Issue |
|
|
| Resources |
|
|
|
Introduction: Equal Education, Equal Funding?
| Article
# : |
11281 |
|
|
Section : |
MODERN THOUGHT
|
| Issue
Date : |
9 / 1993 |
1,503 Words |
| Author
: |
Editor
|
Our theme this month concerns the funding of public schools, especially the problem of the disparities in funding between different school districts. This problem--often called the problem of "equity funding"--has become one of the most difficult, divisive, and intractable public-policy issues at the state level in present-day America. Already, in more than twenty states, lawsuits have been filed by poorer districts to compel some measure of funding equality, and numerous courts and state legislatures have had to wrestle with this question over and over again.
Public schools in the United States differ greatly. Huge differences in the observable quality and financial situation of American public schools exist from district to district within many states. In a given state--Texas, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, California, and numerous others--there are both overcrowded, crumbling, sewage- and vermin-infested, ill- or non-equipped schools, on the one hand, and, on the other, beautiful schools with small classes, carpeted rooms and hallways, well-stocked libraries and laboratories, a wide array of programs, courses, and extracurricular activities, and equipment such as computers for every student. Most schools fall somewhere between those extremes. Typically (but not always), the beautiful, well-stocked schools are in the white suburbs, and the crumbling, hellhole schools are in inner-city districts with all black or Hispanic students.
The differences in funding per student between districts in the same state are in many cases greater than two to one. In New Jersey, for example, in the 1988-89 school year, spending per pupil ranged from $3,538 in Camden to $7,725 in Princeton. In New York State, in schools in the New York City area in the 1989-90 school year, funding per pupil in New York City was $7,299, while in suburban Manhasset it was $15,084.
The funding differences came about primarily because school control and finance in the United States have historically been the province of local school districts. School funding was provided predominately through local property (real estate) taxes. Large capital expenditures--such as for building a new school or remodeling an existing school--were typically financed through floating a bond issue.
The amount and value of taxable property vary from district to district, however, and these differences have been growing in the past several decades. Increasingly, taxpayers have resisted rising tax rates and voted down new bond issues. Wealthy districts can raise considerably larger amounts of
...
Read Full Article
Look for this article in Ask.com
|
|
