QUALITY COUNTS 2019: FINANCE Grading the States EQUITY GRADE SPENDING Wealth-Neutrality Score (2016) 1 McLoone Index (2016) 1 Coefficient of Variation (2016)1 Relationship between district funding and local property wealth (negative value indicates higher funding for poorer districts) Actual spending as a percent of amount needed to bring all students to median level Amount of disparity in spending across districts (lower value indicates greater equity) Difference in per-pupil spending levels at 95th and 5th percentiles Restricted Range (2016)1 Per-pupil expenditures (PPE), adjusted for regional cost differences (2016) Percent of students in districts with PPE at or above U.S. average (2016)1 Spending Index (2016)1 Per-pupil spending levels weighted by the degree to which districts meet or approach the national average for expenditures (cost and student need adjusted) Percent of total taxable resources spent on education (2016) 92.8 0.011 92.1% 0.138 $4,550 $18,090 100.0% 100.0 5.1% WYOMING 90.2 0.082 91.2 0.124 7,905 19,697 100.0 100.0 4.2 NEW YORK B+ 89.3 0.061 90.9 0.164 7,698 16,543 100.0 100.0 4.8 NEW JERSEY B+ 88.3 0.080 88.1 0.142 8,262 17,798 100.0 100.0 4.2 CONNECTICUT B+ 87.1 0.128 90.0 0.117 5,181 15,320 100.0 100.0 3.8 RHODE ISLAND B+ 86.5 0.125 93.1 0.093 2,984 13,146 100.0 100.0 3.6 MARYLAND B 86.3 0.000 81.3 0.239 13,742 20,540 76.3 96.5 5.4 VERMONT B 86.0 0.146 91.4 0.159 6,580 16,122 96.8 99.7 3.8 PENNSYLVANIA B 84.0 0.178 87.6 0.177 6,809 16,006 81.1 97.5 4.3 MAINE B 83.5 0.049 92.5 0.150 3,668 14,381 85.5 99.0 3.0 NORTH DAKOTA B 83.4 0.156 90.6 0.177 7,528 14,529 99.7 100.0 3.3 MASSACHUSETTS B- 82.1 -0.272 83.3 0.466 20,429 17,872 96.7 99.2 4.3 ALASKA B- 81.3 0.152 79.3 0.213 8,719 16,347 81.1 98.7 3.7 NEW HAMPSHIRE B- 80.5 0.399 89.1 0.115 4,681 15,009 90.9 99.5 2.6 DELAWARE B- 80.2 0.233 89.9 0.168 9,145 13,829 80.1 98.2 3.7 ILLINOIS C+ 77.6 0.091 91.8 0.133 4,680 13,068 45.3 95.0 3.4 MINNESOTA C+ 76.8 0.096 93.3 0.106 2,990 12,558 33.5 95.3 3.4 WISCONSIN C+ 76.7 0.126 94.3 0.112 3,628 12,915 23.8 91.1 4.2 WEST VIRGINIA C 75.4 0.084 92.3 0.138 3,183 11,125 41.9 95.0 2.9 WASHINGTON C 74.9 0.145 92.1 0.197 5,468 14,385 32.6 94.0 3.3 NEBRASKA C 74.7 0.191 89.3 0.134 4,666 10,530 49.8 94.6 3.0 VIRGINIA C 74.2 0.102 89.6 0.207 6,761 13,051 37.1 92.1 3.4 OHIO C 74.0 0.128 92.9 0.098 2,685 13,241 13.3 90.7 3.3 IOWA C 73.9 0.043 88.0 0.152 3,873 10,281 37.4 92.5 3.0 CALIFORNIA C 73.0 0.166 92.9 0.133 3,680 13,016 15.7 88.4 3.5 MICHIGAN C- 72.5 0.117 91.7 0.121 3,110 11,905 18.7 89.8 3.0 OREGON C- 72.2 0.161 91.2 0.271 5,122 14,229 26.5 88.9 3.4 MONTANA C- 72.0 0.058 89.0 0.146 3,711 11,753 10.2 84.7 3.6 KANSAS C- 71.9 0.160 92.4 0.154 3,854 11,951 12.5 82.3 4.0 ARKANSAS C- 71.9 0.351 90.4 0.131 3,914 12,362 29.0 91.9 3.1 LOUISIANA C- 71.7 0.199 89.3 0.147 4,938 11,564 14.8 86.6 3.9 SOUTH CAROLINA C- 70.9 0.111 92.3 0.097 2,448 11,210 0.5 83.2 3.5 KENTUCKY C- 70.7 0.065 91.3 0.131 3,505 11,626 5.9 81.2 3.3 INDIANA C- 70.5 0.191 92.5 0.137 3,470 11,756 11.1 84.0 3.3 MISSOURI D+ 69.4 0.100 93.8 0.190 3,738 10,754 8.1 79.9 3.5 NEW MEXICO D+ 69.1 0.209 93.1 0.096 2,566 10,386 3.3 81.9 3.3 ALABAMA D+ 68.9 0.194 92.4 0.135 4,396 10,114 9.1 84.3 3.3 GEORGIA D+ 68.8 0.146 90.3 0.122 2,792 10,240 2.3 73.1 3.7 MISSISSIPPI D+ 68.0 0.125 96.2 0.063 1,647 9,764 0.1 76.0 2.7 FLORIDA D+ 67.3 0.205 91.2 0.136 2,908 10,053 2.9 83.2 2.9 COLORADO D+ 67.3 0.122 92.7 0.162 3,776 8,619 5.6 78.8 3.3 TEXAS D+ 67.1 0.136 92.7 0.187 3,740 11,430 8.9 77.6 2.6 SOUTH DAKOTA D+ 66.9 0.110 94.5 0.098 2,447 9,694 0.8 75.6 2.5 TENNESSEE D 65.9 0.061 90.8 0.165 2,945 9,250 2.0 67.9 3.0 OKLAHOMA D 65.3 0.157 93.4 0.112 2,937 9,367 1.8 75.3 2.3 NORTH CAROLINA D 62.6 0.221 96.1 0.175 2,694 7,635 2.1 60.9 2.9 UTAH D- 62.4 0.102 91.3 0.212 3,193 8,335 2.6 64.5 2.4 ARIZONA D- 61.8 0.135 NA 2 0.148 2,771 9,185 3.1 77.2 2.8 NEVADA D- 60.6 0.345 89.4 0.247 3,527 8,677 2.7 62.4 3.0 IDAHO NA NA NA NA NA NA 15,052 100.0 100.0 NA4 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA3 NA NA NA NA NA NA 14,254 100.0 100.0 3.3 HAWAII3 School Finance A A- C 74.9 0.132 91.1% 0.156 $4,891 Note: States are ranked based on unrounded scores. 1 Figures in this column are adjusted to reflect regional cost differences and weighted for student needs. 2 The Clark County school district enrolls the majority of students in Nevada, making its per-pupil spending the statewide median. In addition, Clark County is Nevada’s lowest-spending district. Because of these two factors, a value for the McLoone Index comparable to other states’ cannot be calculated. Nevada’s grade is based on all other available indicators. $12,756 40.1% 87.5 3.3% U.S.5 The District of Columbia and Hawaii are single-district jurisdictions. As a result, it is not possible to calculate measures of financial equity, which capture the distribution of funding across districts within a state. The District of Columbia and Hawaii do not receive grades for school finance. 4 The District of Columbia does not have a state-level revenue source. 5 The U.S. row reports the indicator value for the average state. SOURCE: Education Week Research Center, 2019 3