The nation’s poorest schools do not receive as much funding as wealthier schools, even with money from Title I that provides aid to disadvantaged schools, a Department of Education report issued this week has found.
Teachers in those same schools are also paid less than their counterparts in wealthier schools while the amount spent per student in an estimated 40 percent of poorer schools is considerably less than in wealthier schools in the same school districts.
The report, based in part on a survey of nearly 13,000 schools districts across the country found that the Title I money oftentimes is used to supplement budget cuts rather than being used as surplus that allows schools to provide more academic opportunities, including training for teachers and ensuring students have the proper academic materials needed for success, to disadvantaged students.
Following the passage of the 2009 federal stimulus bill, states and schools were required to provide the Department of Education with detailed accounting of where the federal money they received was being spent.
The data received from all states except New Jersey was then used in the compilation of this latest report from the Department of Education. New Jersey did not provide data as it figured in both state and federal funding in its accounts.
“Many public schools serving low-income children aren’t getting their fair share of state and local education funding,” Arne Duncan, the Secretary of the Department of Education, said this week.
“Educators, parents, policymakers all understand that low- income students need extra support and resources to succeed.”
Americans can expect the release of a more in-depth report – slated to include more recent spending figures in the nation’s schools and financial data from New Jersey – sometime in the next few months.
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