States with the greatest funding effort for K-12 education

A report from the Education Law Center measures which states provide the highest percentage of their wealth to supporting K-12 schools.

Vermont is the state that provides the greatest funding effort to K-12 education, according to the Education Law Center.

In a report, “Making the Grade 2019: How Fair is School Funding in Your State?” the center analyzed the combined state and local revenue provided through each state’s school finance formula in 2016-17, adjusted to account for regional variations in labor market costs.

The report defines funding effort as the percentage of state wealth or gross domestic product allocated to support the K-12 school system.

Funding effort in 2016-17 ranged from 7.03% in Vermont to 2.52% in Arizona. The national average for K-12 funding effort is 3.79%, the report says.

The center says it compiled the data “as a tool to inform policymakers, business and community leaders, teachers, parents and students about the condition of public school funding in their state.”

Here are the 10 states with the highest K-12 funding effort:

State                            Funding effort

Vermont                      7.03%

New Jersey                 5.39%

Maine                          4.78%

Wyoming                    4.74%

New York                    4.73%

Connecticut                4.53%

Illinois                          4.50%

South Carolina           4.45%

West Virginia              4.43%

Pennsylvania              4.41%

About the Author

Mike Kennedy

Senior Editor

Mike Kennedy has been writing about education for American School & University since 1999. He also has reported on schools and other topics for The Chicago Tribune, The Kansas City Star, The Kansas City Times and City News Bureau of Chicago. He is a graduate of Michigan State University.

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