The 10 Richest -- and Poorest -- School Districts in America

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/story/155824/the_10_richest_--_and_poorest_--_school_districts_in_america/

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The average income of Americans differs by state, county, city and ZIP code, obviously. At each level, the amount residents earn every year impacts available government services, health and overall quality of life. This is especially true when education is examined by school district.

24/7 Wall St. analyzed Census data from 2006 through 2010 for each of the more than 10,000 unified school districts in the United States. Wealth appears to have an outsized effect on education at the local level. Residents that live in wealthy school districts have among the best schools in the nation based on graduation rates, test scores and independent ratings of academic success. Children who attend these schools are more likely to earn a college degree than the national average. To illustrate the influence wealth and poverty have on educational attainment, 24/7 Wall St. examined the wealthiest and poorest school districts in the country.

Nearly all of the wealthiest school districts are within a short distance of one of the richest cities in the country. Other than one suburb of Portland, Ore., all of the wealthiest school districts are commuter towns of New York City, located in either Fairfield County, Conn., or Westchester County, N.Y. The poorest districts are rural communities scattered all over the country, from Ohio and Kentucky to Texas and Mississippi.

Compared to the national median income, the families in the most well-off districts are incredibly wealthy. In the 10 richest school districts, median incomes ranged from $175,766 to $238,000. By comparison, the national median household income from 2006 to 2010 was $51,914. Among the 10 wealthiest districts, between 48% and 64% earned $200,000. Nationally, only 5.4% of households earned more than that.

[pipoman]

1. In many states, including my own,

there is ongoing argument between reps from the wealthiest school districts and the poorest districts as to the way state school funding is divided. The rich districts claim the property tax revenue from their district should stay in their district, the poorer districts say it should be split so each student is allotted an equal portion without regard for which district they live.

[Stuart G]

2. In 1976 i met a state rep who was trying to correct this.

In 1976 I met Art Berman of Illinois General Assembly. It was for a class in Ed Adminstration that I was taking and he was a state rep who later became a state senator. He became the expert on education in the Senate and promoted bill after bill that would correct the
inequities in funding. He tried and tried, but the Republicans (yes, he was a Democrat) stopped him every chance they had. The
inequites in funding were never corrected. I think he retired in 2002 or 3, never accomplishing this goal.

[tk2kewl]

3. that is a very tough nut to crack

the districts with high taxes and better schools are definitely the richer ones and property values in suburbia are tightly coupled to the quality of the schools. I am all for assisting the poorer school districts, but not at the expense of my own child's education. It's really hard to change the rules in the middle of the game, and someone will always feel as though they are the ones in the middle.