Research Library
The Funding Gap
Author: Arroyo, Carmen G.
Publisher: The Education Trust
Publication Date: 2008, January
Summary or Abstract: This report supports the finding the many districts with the greatest needs often receive the least funding. The report identifies “political will” rather than technical know-how as the obstacle impeding progress towards more equitable funding. This is the seventh in a series of annual Education Trust reports analyzing education spending in the states. This report presents changes in funding gaps, state-by-state, from 1999 to 2005. The analysis compares state and local spending in school districts with the highest numbers of low-income students to those that have the lowest concentration of such students. It also does the same for districts with the highest and lowest numbers of minority students. This reports also adds a third category: spending in school districts serving high numbers of English language learners (ELLs ) compared to those servicing few or none of these students. The report includes brief summaries that identify the successful, and not so successful, efforts of some states.