The Distribution of School Resources in The United States: A Comparative Analysis Across Levels of Governance, Student Sub-groups, And Educational Resources

Abstract

Levels of governance (the nation, states, and districts), student subgroups (racial and ethnic mi-noritized and economically disadvantaged students), and types of resources (expenditures, class sizes, and teacher quality) intersect to represent a complex and comprehensive picture of K-12 educational resource inequality. Drawing on multiple sources of the most recently available data, we describe inequality in multiple dimensions. At the national level, racial and ethnic minoritized and economically disadvantaged students receive less K-12 expenditures per pupil than White and economically advantaged students (between $400 to $1,200 less per pupil). At the state and district levels, racial and ethnic minoritized and economically disadvantaged students receive more K-12 expenditures per pupil than white and economically advantaged students (between $200 to $400 more). The notable exception is Hispanic students, who receive no additional funding per pupil than white students, on average, at the state level. Among districts, minoritized and economically disadvantaged students have smaller class sizes than their subgroup counterparts, but these students also have greater exposure to inexperienced teachers. About 20 percent of additional teacher hires favoring traditionally disadvantaged student subgroups is for novice teachers. We see no evidence that district-level spending in favor of traditionally disadvantaged subgroups is explained by district size, average district spending, teacher turnover, or the size of the special education population.