Public schools in your school district are funded largely through your tax dollars. So, each year when local, state and federal governments write and pass their budgets, they are deciding how much money they will allocate to schools and they are examining whether or not they have the tax revenue to cover those expenses. Your federal and state income taxes are a portion of the federal and state money that funds your schools. At the local level, your county property taxes and local sales taxes generate the local funds that are distributed to your school district.
This graph provides several types of information. First, the total dollar amount spent per student is shown by the source of these dollars (dollar amounts indicated to the left of the graph). Second, the proportion of total spending per student from each source is shown as a percentage above each bar. Both types of information are shown for your district and for the state average.
Use this graph to see what proportion of your school district's funding comes from local, state, and federal sources. Does most of the district's funding come from the state? In smaller or low-wealth counties, the state provides additional education funding to offset the lower amount of local funding available to schools. This is one of the ways that North Carolina attempts to provide all of its students - regardless of their geographic location or circumstances - access to a quality public school education. Does a large portion of your funding come from the federal government? Your school district may be eligible for federal "Title I "money or other federal funding programs based on the income level or circumstances of families in your area.
Next, use this graph to see how much your district is spending per student (on average). Use the individual bars and the dollar amounts listed to the left to read how much state, federal, and local money is spent per student. You can use the state bars to see how your district's levels of spending compare to state averages.
Lastly, this graph provides information about total spending per student. For an estimate of total spending per student, add the dollar amounts for the three district funding bars together. Use the same method to estimate the state's average spending per student. Does your district spend more or less money per student as compared to the state average?
Use caution when drawing comparisons between the source of funds in your district and the average source of funds across the state. Because state and federal funding are adjusted by the financial needs of communities, the sources of district education funds can differ substantially from the state averages shown here. For example, in a small and rural school district with low property values and high unemployment or poverty rates, state and federal funding sources are likely to account for a larger percentage of the public school funding than the North Carolina average. In this same example, local school funding may use a large portion of the community's financial resources, but the contribution may appear low in comparison to the state's average amount of local funding.
For more information about the source of education funds in your school district or the average amount of money spent educating students in your district, contact your school district's central office. For technical information about these data, see the Data Sources & Information Guide.