How well is your school district funded?

Reporters from NPR have done a stunning analysis of spending per student by school district. It is well worth having a look at the map they have created and reading the accompanying story. Of particular interest to me were the discrepancies between the Washington, DC area school districts. DC spends the greatest amount per student, nearly $20,000. While spending drops off in Montgomery County, at about $14,000, it is still higher than the national average. Falls Church and Alexandria spend similarly to Montgomery County. Yet, Fairfax County spends significantly less per student.

Whether or not the amount of money spent per student affects outcomes is debatable. I will be interested to see the work of this reporting team next week when they tackle exactly that subject.