Agenda Item 1-B - Public School Forum Local School Finance Study

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ATTACHMENT B LOCAL FUNDS The nearly century-old division of state and local responsibility LOCAL SCHOOL FUNDING: for school funding still shapes the way North Carolina pays for IMPACTS ON SCHOOLS public education today, with approximately 65 percent of AND CLASSROOMS instructional expenditures coming from the state and 97 percent of capital expenses paid at the local level. However, the division has eroded somewhat over the past 5 to 10 years, Differences in the ability of • to invest in with counties funding approximately 15 percent of principal their schoolinto dramatically and assistant principal positions, 6.7 percent of teachers, 9 different options at the sch•• and classroom percent of teacher assistants, and 20.2 percent of professional As an illustration, •' average class size instructional support personnel; and with the state paying 3 of • students per •• counties percent of capital expenses. spend the mostper ''nt would spend,on average,$63,996 per classroom. By contrast,the When examining local expenditures on programs and ten counties .- • the least per • would personnel, in 2016-17 the ten counties that spent the most per spend, . .•- $15,096 .- .. student averaged $3,200 per student compared to the ten that difference . : ••• per classroom. spent the least, which averaged $755 per student. That average elementary school - of 490 students, represents a gap of $2,445 between the top and lowest that translates to . • - of$1,198,054 .- spending districts. Of North Carolina's 100 counties, 59 fall elementary •• average • below the state average of$1,652 in funding for school .. - • . . difference . personnel. Orange County alone spent $396 more than the • .: .- . ..translates seven lowest-spending counties combined. These statistics continue the trend of increased responsibility being placed on counties to fund instructional expenditures as well as capital outlays. This increased responsibility has resulted in FUNDING FOR SCHOOL BUILDINGS, 2016-17 exasperated inequities already experienced by students of low-wealth counties. STATE One of the primary challenges from the five low-wealth $40 MILLION plaintiffs in the Leandro case dealt with the inequities (3%) between varying levels of county support for schools. However, the state Supreme Court ruled in 1997 that "the 'equal opportunities' clause of Article IX, Section 2(1) of the North Carolina Constitution does not require substantially equal funding or educational advantages in all school districts. Consequently, the provisions of the current state LOCAL system for funding schools which require or allow counties to $1.1 BILLION help finance their school systems and result in unequal funding among the school districts of the state do not violate Lill _��A constitutional principles." Source:North Carolina Department of Public Instruction,Statistical Profile. �Jw i t 7 � w -All� 9<