Do Kids From Low-Income Communities Receive Less Per-Pupil Funding?

Progressives like to claim that kids from low income communities get the short end of the funding stick for schools when compared to kids from higher income areas. Is that accurate? No, as discussed in my Carolina Journal Radio interview with Terry Stoops, JLF Director of Education Studies. Read for yourself.

Martinez: Speaking of special populations, we often hear folks say that kids from low-income communities are getting less funding than kids who live in wealthier areas. Is that true?

Stoops: No, that’s absolutely not true. Because the state controls so much of the funding, they’re able to target their funding to counties that can’t raise a lot of revenue on the local scale. So you have some of our poorest counties receiving some of our highest per-pupil expenditures from the state because the state recognizes that there isn’t a lot of industry in the county, a small tax base, or other circumstances that make it difficult for them to raise much money for their schools.

Martinez: So, in effect, is it true then that kids from low-income communities might actually have higher per-pupil funding for education than kids from more affluent communities?

Stoops: Yes, that’s absolutely the case. Not only that, when the money comes to a school district, they usually send additional funds to schools that have a lot of free and reduced[-price] lunch or low-income kids. So even on the local level, when that money is received, they distribute those funds to the schools that need them the most.

And now you know the facts, rather than the progressive talking point.