[1] The largest source of funding for elementary and secondary education comes from state government aid, followed by local contributions (primarily property taxes).
Though earning a diploma, students' education can be limiting, and most of the disadvantaged population includes those in a lower income city or neighborhood.
As Kozol talks about in his book, Racial Inequality, school infrastructure and the surrounding neighborhoods play a big factor in funding allocation.
[4] According to a review of the economics literature by Kirabo Jackson, there is strong evidence of "a causal relationship between increased school spending and student outcomes.
All but one of the several multi-state studies find a strong link between spending and outcomes – indicating that money matters on average... the robustness of the patterns across a variety of settings is compelling evidence of a real positive causal relationship between increased school spending and student outcomes on average.
"[5] The National Center for Education Statistics reports that approximately 80% of school funding in years 2000-01, 2010–11, 2016-17 was dedicated to salaries and employee benefits.
Current expenditures per pupil enrolled in the fall in public elementary and secondary schools were 20 percent higher in 2016–17 than in 2000–01 ($12,794 vs. $10,675, both in constant 2018–19 dollars).
New York, on the other hand, has the highest ranking expenditures, twenty thousand per student including teacher salaries, and the cost of living, which is significantly higher than other states.
Overall, this model presents a challenge to schools situated in low-income areas because performance measures can be tied to this funding approach.
Poor school performance in low-income areas has a direct causal relationship with the low income and property taxes hence the need for a change in the approach to funding.
[21] At the same time as funding levels have dropped and remained inequitable, the number of school fundraising organizations, such as Parent Teacher Associations, have risen by 230%, form 990 filings required for revenues above $25,000 have increased by 300%, and total revenues have increased by 347.7% to 880 million and low-poverty school districts receive a much greater level of these voluntary donations.
A 25% increase in school funding would result in a complete elimination of the achievement gap between low and high income students.