Funding Inequalities

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Inequalities in Education Funding inequalities has been an issue from past to present, especially in the low-income communities. In fact, students in urban areas with less funding have low attendance, score lower on standardize testing, a low graduation rate. Also subjected to outdated textbooks, old dilapidated buildings, Students in the inner cities need to compete with their suburban and wealthy counter-parts for this reason funding inequalities must end and more money should be directed to these communities from: federal, state, and local governments. Frank Johnson, a writer for the National Center for Education Statics, “Disparities in Public School Spending.” Reported in 1995, public education expenditures per student are higher in the nation's smallest districts whereas students receive an average fully adjusted expenditure of $4,862 versus $4,216 in the largest district’s 10,000 students and above. (Johnson 4) Since 1995, enrollments in the urban public school system have doubled up to 62 percent in the 2010-2011 school year. Still, they received less money. Local governments rely on property tax as a source of revenue to pay for school. Yet people in the urban areas pay the higher tax than suburban and wealthy communities, states on the other hand, relies on The Average Daily Attendance (ADA), which calculates state aid to school districts, tends to discriminate against urban school districts with high absentee rates by automatically, and excludes 15 percent of its student aid. Therefore, in many urban areas, the state ratio of funding remains significantly lower than 50 percent out of the tree entities the federal government allocates the least amount of funding. Residents in these areas who are under edu... ... middle of paper ... ...ter homes, they can add a tax levy to help support their education according to state and local guidelines. For this reason it is essential to eliminate funding inequalities all students deserve a high quality education especially in the low-income areas. Providing more money to these areas can reduce crime and gang activity, lower the teen birth rate, restore self-confidence, provide these students and opportunity to attend college, also break the cycle of poverty. The President “Race to the Top Program” is a start but more need to be done from the local and state level. Works Cited Johnson, Frank. Disparities in Public School District Spending. February 1995. 21 February 2011 . Office of Management and Budget,. U.S. Department of Education. 21 February 2011.7 March 2011 . Washington D.C. Printing Office

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