Local Per Pupil Expenditures

Lowest Ten Percent

School Number 820 241 240 400 220 420 380 780 470 870 District Sampson County Schools Whiteville City Schools Columbus County Schools Greene County Schools Clay County Schools Halifax County Schools Graham County Schools Robeson County Schools Hoke County Schools Swain County Schools Total Amount 6951938 1774740 4607506 2247000 878857 2520469 748941 12375000 3890251 793874 Per Pupil Amount 836 798 718 704 662 659 629 531 490 420 Rank 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 3-8% Proficient 65.7% 65.5% 60.9% 48.6% 65.2% 31.7% 72% 51.5% 58.4% 67%

Highest Ten Percent

School Number District ChapelHill/Carrboro City Schools Dare County Schools Asheville City Schools Durham County Schools Orange County Schools Chatham County Schools Transylvania County Schools New Hanover County Schools Watauga County Schools Total Amount Per Pupil Amount Rank 3-8% Proficient

681 280 111 320 680 190 880 650 950

56001039 19649333 14587973 107214112 23271992 24856360 9316883 61808440 10984774

4816 4074 3784 3356 3263 3207 2654 2569 2556

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

83.4 79.1% 74.1% 54.9% 72% 66.1% 76.8% 72.9% 78.9%

Guilford County 410 Schools

175165521

2459

10

64.8%

Reflection
When looking at this data, it is astounding to see the difference in the local per pupil funding amounts. On average the top ten districts with the highest amounts of per pupil funding are performing at approximately ten percentage points above the lowest funded schools. I would be curious to see what each of these districts total per pupil spending amounts are once all federal and state funds are added in. Looking at the highest funded districts, I would venture to guess that these are more populous areas with a higher economic base, and I would guess that the lower funded districts are more rural, less populous areas with a lower economic base. Looking at the EOG scores, higher funding doesn't necessarily guarantee higher test scores, but on average the districts with higher funds are performing better than the lower funded districts here. This data raises a lot of questions for me in terms of wanting to know more about each of these districts. What are their overall racial compositions, economic make-up, etc. I am left curious to know more about these districts in order to get a better understanding of the "whole picture".