question:

Does the Washington public school administration allocate equal funds to elementary schools regardless of neighborhood income level?

Regular Budget Funds

Students attending schools in wealthier neighborhoods received a higher per capita expenditure of public school funds in 1965 than did those attending elementary schools in poorer neighborhoods. Data published three years later reveal very little change in this unequal pattern of expenditure per pupil.

analysis:

In Washington, neighborhoods with the lowest average incomes
are primarily Black, and neighborhoods with the highest average
incomes are primarily White.

Chart 8 shows that in 1965, elementary schools in lower and mod-
erate income neighborhoods (under $9,000) had average expendi-
tures per pupil substantially lower than those in the higher income

areas ($10,000 and above)-$306 contrasted with an average of $396 in the wealthier neighborhoods, about 30% higher. Chart 9 shows that three years later, in 1968, the general pattern remained the same, although the gap had narrowed. The overall average expenditure per pupil in areas of less than $9,000 income was $391, contrasted with $442 in areas of $9,000 income and more.

22

question:

Regular Budget Funds

What are the average expenditures per pupil in elementary schools in a predominantly poor and Black community compared to the expenditures per pupil in elementary schools located in predominantly White and affluent communities in the same school district?

The Black Southeast elementary schools of Washington received much less than a fair share of the resources available to the public schools in 1963-64. The predominantly White schools west of Rock Creek Park received twice as much money per pupil as the poor Black schools. In 1968, the picture was relatively the same.