Reforming School Funding

Because states rely heavily on local property taxes to fund education, richer districts can raise more money than poorer districts. As a result, students in low-income districts often attend overcrowded, underfunded schools offering woefully inadequate educations. State courts generally have split evenly on the question of whether unequal funding is constitutional, but a new generation of lawsuits is challenging not only the equity of funding but also the adequacy of the education being offered to students. Meanwhile, some educators are asking whether wealthier districts should be forced to aid poorer districts, and even whether increased spending on education boosts academic achievement.