POOR KIDS GET LESS SCHOOL $$-AID

While money alone will not do much to help turn around the failing schools that poor, minority children typically attend, this is still a disgrace.  Kukos to the Education Trust for exposing and documenting the discrepancies.  The full report is at: http://www2.edtrust.org/NR/rdonlyres/31D276EF-72E1-458A-8C71-E3D262A4C91E/0/FundingGap2005.pdf

Poor and minority schoolchildren are shortchanged on education aid in New York more than in any other state in the country, according to a new report to be released today.

School districts with the highest poverty rates in the state receive an average of $2,280 less than those with the lowest poverty rates - by far the largest gap in the nation.

PS--Following up on the NYT story I sent around recently about child porn and the internet, here's a link to an equally horrifying Dateline expose on pedophiles: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9927253.  They caught a ton of these evil men ON CAMERA, including a rabbi, a schoolteacher, etc...

------------------------------------

POOR KIDS GET LESS SCHOOL $$-AID

By DAVID ANDREATTA Education Reporter, NY Post, 12/22/05

Poor and minority schoolchildren are shortchanged on education aid in New York more than in any other state in the country, according to a new report to be released today.

School districts with the highest poverty rates in the state receive an average of $2,280 less than those with the lowest poverty rates - by far the largest gap in the nation.

The disparity translates to as much $3.42 million a year between a typical well-off high school of 1,500 students and an impoverished counterpart.  That's about $57,000 in a classroom of 25 kids.

Across the country, an average of $907 less is spent per student in poor districts than in affluent ones.

"Even before you account for the additional costs of educating kids in poverty, New York stands out for being more unfair than any other state in the country," said Ross Weiner, policy director for the Education Trust, which issued the report.

When it comes to spending on minority students, districts in the state with the lowest concentration of minorities receive $1,965 more per pupil than those with a sizable minority population - more than three times the national average of $614.

The Education Trust, a national advocacy organization, found aid inequities related to poverty in 27 of the 49 states examined, and underfunding in districts serving high numbers of minorities in 30 states.

Figures were derived from data for the 2002-03 school year.

The findings come as the state struggles to comply with a court order to pump an additional $5.6 billion into city schools annually.