JACKSON, Wyo. — While the U.S. is one of the most educated countries in the world, it doesn’t provide the same quality elementary school or secondary school education to all students. In many states, more affluent school districts receive a greater amount of funding per student than poorer districts.
Discrepancies between the rich and poor have been exacerbated even more this year by the COVID-19 pandemic. As states decide whether their school districts will have in-person learning this fall, studies show that low-income students will suffer the greatest “learning loss” due to partial or total remote learning. One contributing factor is that people in low-income districts are less likely to have the technological resources they need.
States that provide equitable funding to all school districts can help prevent poor students from having lower graduation rates, lower rates of pursuing higher education, and smaller future incomes than their wealthy peers. The difference is dramatic: College graduates have $460 – $1,154 higher median weekly earnings than people with a high school diploma and no college experience, depending on the degree.
With research showing that low-income students will fall behind their wealthy peers if schools operate remotely due to COVID-19, and a renewed focus on racial equality, WalletHub today released its report on the Most and Least Equitable School Districts in Wyoming.
To find out where school funding is distributed most fairly, WalletHub scored the equitability of each school district in Wyoming based on two metrics: average household income and expenditures for public elementary and secondary schools per pupil.
Then, they ranked 49 states based on the average equitability of all the school districts in each state. Read on for the ranking and a complete description of our methodology.
Wyoming ranked as the 10th most equitable state overall.
