Report finds New Jersey schools not among the country’s most equitable

(The Center Square) – New Jersey’s school districts are the ninth least equitable in the country, a new report reveals.

The analysis from WalletHub found Iowa has the most equitable districts nationwide, followed by North Carolina and Arkansas. Conversely, New York has the least equitable schools, edging out Idaho and California.

Overall, New Jersey ranked No. 41. In the region, Delaware came in at No. 18, while Pennsylvania ranked No. 29, and Connecticut was No. 32.

“The ranking is based on the average household income and expenditures for public elementary and secondary schools per pupil, and was created by taking the average score of all the school districts from each state,” WalletHub analyst Jill Gonzalez told The Center Square.

“In New Jersey, Ogdensburg Borough School District is the most equitable, as there is a balance between expenditures per pupil and household income,” Gonzalez added. “Expenditures are 9% higher than the state average, while the average household income is 9% below the state average. The least equitable is Avalon School District, where expenditures are 271% higher than the state average, while the income is only 2% lower than the state average.”

Following Ogdensburg Borough School District, Hazlet Township Public School District and Northvale Public School District were the most equitable districts in New Jersey. The report found Avalon School District was the least equitable, ahead of Lebanon Borough School District and Mountain Lakes Public School District.

Nationally, according to the analysis, red states generally have more equitable schools than blue states. Red states had an average rank of 17.60, while blue states had an average rank of 32.71.

“In my view, the best way to evaluate school funding is in terms of whether that funding is sufficient to meet some common outcome goal,” Bruce D. Baker, a professor in Rutgers’ Graduate School of Education’s Department of Educational Theory, Policy, and Administration, told WalletHub for its report. “That is really the goal of state school funding systems – to make sure that all students, wherever they live and attend school – can attend a school that has sufficient resources to provide them with equal opportunity to achieve the same goals that other kids achieve – from the city to the ‘burbs, to remote rural settings, and for that matter from Massachusetts to Mississippi.”

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