School funding ‘effort’ varies widely across states: Pre-K through 12th grade education revenues as a percentage of state GDP, 2017–2018
| State | PK-12 education revenues as a percentage of state GDP (2018) |
|---|---|
| Vermont | 5.99% |
| New Jersey | 4.86% |
| Wyoming | 4.36% |
| Maine | 4.29% |
| New York | 4.20% |
| Illinois | 4.10% |
| Connecticut | 4.06% |
| Pennsylvania | 4.04% |
| West Virginia | 3.99% |
| South Carolina | 3.95% |
| Alaska | 3.89% |
| Arkansas | 3.89% |
| Rhode Island | 3.85% |
| Kansas | 3.81% |
| New Hampshire | 3.70% |
| Michigan | 3.68% |
| Maryland | 3.64% |
| Kentucky | 3.63% |
| Iowa | 3.62% |
| Mississippi | 3.59% |
| Ohio | 3.52% |
| Nebraska | 3.48% |
| Wisconsin | 3.43% |
| Montana | 3.37% |
| Minnesota | 3.33% |
| Missouri | 3.33% |
| Indiana | 3.32% |
| Oregon | 3.30% |
| Georgia | 3.30% |
| New Mexico | 3.27% |
| Alabama | 3.26% |
| Hawaii | 3.20% |
| Massachusetts | 3.16% |
| Texas | 3.10% |
| Virginia | 3.04% |
| North Dakota | 3.01% |
| Idaho | 2.98% |
| Louisiana | 2.90% |
| California | 2.89% |
| Washington | 2.84% |
| Utah | 2.82% |
| Delaware | 2.81% |
| Oklahoma | 2.81% |
| Colorado | 2.79% |
| South Dakota | 2.74% |
| Nevada | 2.65% |
| Tennessee | 2.59% |
| Florida | 2.58% |
| North Carolina | 2.28% |
| Arizona | 2.23% |
| District of Columbia | 0.98% |
| US | 3.39% |
Note: “Effort is measured as total state and local [education] revenue (including [revenue for] capital outlay and debt service, excluding all federal funds) divided by the state’s gross domestic product. GDP is the value of all goods and services produced by each state’s economy and is used here to represent the state’s economic capacity to raise funds for schools” (Farrie and Sciarra 2020).
Source: Adapted from Making the Grade 2020: How Fair is School Funding in Your State? (Farrie and Sciarra 2020).