Education Law Center published a handy guide to compare state spending on education.
Public Schools First North Carolina used that guide to demonstrate how poorly the state funds its schools.
Education Law Center’s 2024 report Making the Grade: How Fair is Funding in Your State shows once again that North Carolina is doing much less that it can to support public schools.
This comes no surprise to those following public education funding in the state, but it is disappointing that North Carolina, a state that touts its business-friendly environment, continues to neglect an essential foundation of business success—an educated workforce. More than 80% of the state’s students attend public schools (traditional & charter), so continued neglect jeopardizes our state’s future at every level.
FUNDING LEVEL GRADE: F – Funding level is the per-pupil funding provided to school districts from state and local sources. The measure is cost-adjusted to account for cost-of-living differences across states. North Carolina is #48 out of 51 (states + DC). All other Southeastern states rank higher; only Arizona, Utah, and Idaho rank lower.
North Carolina’s per pupil funding is $4,868 lower than the national average!
The “good” news is that in this year’s report, North Carolina lags behind Mississippi by only $475 per student. Last year our state spent $669 less per student than Mississippi, the poorest state in the nation.
FUNDING DISTRIBUTION GRADE: B – Funding distribution measures the extent to which districts with high levels of poverty receive additional funds. North Carolina is #12 out of 48 states in this category, a very respectable rank with room to grow. This measure tells us that although overall public education funding is terrible, the funding available to high and low poverty districts is fairly even (i.e. equally bad).
FUNDING EFFORT GRADE: F – Funding effort measures the funding allocated to support PK-12 education as a percentage of the state’s wealth (GDP). North Carolina is #49 out of 50 states. This means that although North Carolina has enough money, it chooses not to spend it on education. North Carolina spends just 2.08% of its wealth on education. Only Arizona spends less. They spend 2.05%.
The state with the highest funding effort is Vermont. They spend 5.50% on education. Vermont’s GDP per capita is $53,483 and the state spends $25,627 per pupil (cost adjusted) each year.
In contrast, North Carolina’s GDP per capita is $56,943, which is higher than Vermont’s. But we spend just $11,777 per pupil. In other words, although Vermont isn’t as rich as North Carolina, Vermont spends $13,850 more per student (cost adjusted) each year. That’s more than double North Carolina’s financial commitment to our students!
North Carolina is better that this. Let’s hold our legislators accountable!
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Art Pope, the libertarian behind the North Carolina Republican coup, had ruined its public schools in a generation. 40 years ago, North Carolina arguably had some of the best schools in the country.
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Well, Utah, as usual, funds clear down in the dumps. And while in the 1980s and 1990s Utah used to at least have a high level of expenditure per taxpayer for education, it’s now 6th-lowest effort. And these numbers are from BEFORE the vouchers passed, which Utah legislators are trying to raise to $200 million this coming session.
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I came to the conclusion long ago that American business, as represented by such organizations as the Chamber of Commerce, does not believe that an educated populace contributes to profit. In fact, one could surmise, through the tax breaks and subsides provided to our oligarchy from our state and federal representatives, that an uneducated citizenry is quite good for the corporate bottom line.
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Good behind the scenes look at the build out of K4 seats in NYC under DeBlasio:
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/bill-de-blasio-universal-prek-ten-years-later.html
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A program that is universal, available to all, is harder to eliminate than one that is limited to the poor. Social Security and Medicare, for example.
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