District Spending

School Administrator, May, 1997

Do rich and poor school districts spend alike?

A new Issue Brief on the topic published by the U.S. Department of Education includes these findings:

* Districts with high-income households have more to spend for public education.

* Converting education expenditures to "buying power" reduces the gap between districts with high-and low-income households.

* Student-teacher ratios are lowest in districts serving students with the highest and lowest household incomes.

Free copies of the two-page brief (NCES 97-916) are available by calling 800-424-1616. It also is available on the Internet at http://www. ed.gov/NCES.