This Map Shows How Much Money School Districts Spend Per Student
Some school districts spend more per student than others, and this, as you can imagine, directly affects the resources that students and teachers have at each school. This map shows the differences between school districts in each state.
The national average per child spending in 2013 was $ 11,841, but NPR indicates that many school districts spend significantly less than that amount. For the most part, these are local taxes that small businesses and homeowners pay to fund schools – the more successful businesses are in the county, the higher the cost of ownership and therefore the higher the income of local schools for public schools. Figures have been adjusted for the cost of living using the 2013 NCES Comparable Wage Index of Texas A&M University.
This tale of two schools does not apply to Illinois. This happens in the United States, when children of the same age are in the same class and in schools that try to educate them using completely different resources. On average, New York, Alaska, and Wyoming spent over $ 17,000 per student in 2013, while California, Oklahoma, and Nevada spent about half that amount.
Spending more per student does not necessarily mean better education for these students, but it’s not hard to imagine that children from districts with funding and spending in high school have more resources at their disposal – and thus outpace their less well-off. -funded colleagues.
This interactive map, based on data from the US Census Bureau and Education Week, can be of interest not only to data scientists and sociologists, but also to parents and educators. Enter the name of the school district to compare with your state’s per-student spending and national averages.