CommenTerry: Volume Forty-four | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: The author of this post is Dr. Terry Stoops, who is the Director of Education Studies for the John Locke Foundation.

Best Districts Do Not Necessarily Spend The Most

    Niche.com, Inc. is a Pittsburgh, PA-based company that evaluates and ranks K-12 schools, colleges, cities, and neighborhoods. They recently released their 2015 ranking of public schools and school districts in each state, as well as a national ranking of private and public schools and districts.

    Niche researchers evaluated dozens of variables in eight categories and weighted each. Factors included academic performance (50%), health and safety (10%), student culture and diversity (10%), parent and student survey responses (10%), teachers (10%), resources and facilities (5%), extracurricular activities (2.5%), and sports and fitness (2.5%). Obviously, the ranking reflects more than just test scores or graduation rates. The total school environment was taken into account.

    After compiling the data and weighting each factor, Niche determined that Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools was the best school district in North Carolina (see Facts and Stats below). Unfortunately, Chapel Hill-Carrboro failed to land in the top 100 districts in the nation. In fact, no Chapel Hill-Carrboro high school made the list of the top 100 high schools in the nation. (Raleigh Charter High School (#52) was the only school in North Carolina to appear on Niche's high school ranking.)

    Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools is a well-funded district, but by no means do they spend the most per student. During the 2013-14 school year, Chapel Hill-Carrboro spent $10,872 per student on operating expenses, which was the 15th highest expenditure in North Carolina. Compare that level of spending to the fifth-ranked district, Union County Schools. Union County's per student expenditure was far lower than the state average of $8,477. Their $7,611 expenditure ranked 112 of 115 districts in the state. That is a remarkable achievement.

    On the other end of the spectrum is Northampton County Schools, which spent $11,886 per student last year, which was the fifth highest expenditure in the state, but was the lowest ranked district. A number of other districts occupy the lowest quartile of the Niche ranking and the highest quartile of per pupil spending.

    This is not to say that money does not matter. Funding is necessary, but not sufficient, to operate a successful school district. There are numerous other factors that play a role. School culture, working conditions, parental involvement, and community support, are essential. Unfortunately, those key factors are difficult to describe and quantify, and of course cannot be purchased in bulk from Office Max.

Facts and Stats

Niche ranking and per pupil expenditure (PPE) for N.C. School Districts

Niche Ranking

School District

2013-14 Total PPE

2013-14 PPE Rank

1	Chapel-Hill/Carrboro City Schools	$10,871.69	15
2	Asheville City Schools	$11,213.10	9
3	Elkin City Schools	$9,231.40	47
4	Watauga County Schools	$9,711.32	33
5	Union County Schools	$7,611.49	112
6	New Hanover County Schools	$8,908.69	60
7	Orange County Schools	$9,602.37	35
8	Polk County Schools	$11,060.81	13
9	Mitchell County Schools	$9,924.56	30
10	Ashe County Schools	$9,403.38	42
11	Mooresville City Schools	$8,086.50	97
12	Carteret County Schools	$9,098.20	54
13	Henderson County Schools	$8,115.43	93
14	Wake County Schools	$7,880.20	107
15	Mount Airy City Schools	$9,530.88	37
16	Catawba County Schools	$8,114.75	94
17	Currituck County Schools	$8,916.22	59
18	Newton-Conover City Schools	$8,475.92	78
19	Avery County Schools	$10,649.43	17
20	Dare County Schools	$10,678.96	16
21	Chatham County Schools	$9,438.66	41
22	Moore County Schools	$8,144.67	91
23	Pender County Schools	$7,861.09	109
24	Davie County Schools	$8,246.54	89
25	Cabarrus County Schools	$7,423.42	114
26	Cherokee County Schools	$9,528.17	38
27	Forsyth County Schools	$8,631.06	71
28	Surry County Schools	$8,435.79	79
29	Swain County Schools	$10,045.29	24
30	Buncombe County Schools	$8,380.11	83
31	Macon County Schools	$9,223.08	48
32	Guilford County Schools	$9,212.31	49
33	Alleghany County Schools	$11,538.34	7
34	Transylvania County Schools	$9,950.13	28
35	Caldwell County Schools	$8,424.37	80
36	Camden County Schools	$8,720.20	66
37	Graham County Schools	$11,159.08	11
38	Burke County Schools	$8,303.73	84
39	Iredell-Statesville Schools	$8,384.35	82
40	Stokes County Schools	$9,134.88	51
41	Davidson County Schools	$7,282.19	115
42	Johnston County Schools	$7,964.20	104
43	Stanly County Schools	$8,187.19	90
44	Charlotte-Mecklenburg County Schools	$8,043.81	100
45	Rutherford County Schools	$8,687.96	68
46	Pamlico County Schools	$11,520.00	8
47	Hickory City Schools	$8,485.29	77
48	Lincoln County Schools	$7,829.17	110
49	Haywood County Schools	$8,904.44	61
50	Cleveland County Schools	$9,052.34	55
51	Yadkin County Schools	$8,569.29	74
52	Jackson County Schools	$8,792.09	64
53	Wilson County Schools	$7,868.50	108
54	Hyde County Schools	$16,615.37	1
55	Alexander County Schools	$8,251.49	88
56	Yancey County Schools	$9,473.60	40
57	Roanoke Rapids City Schools	$8,613.47	73
58	Pitt County Schools	$8,089.56	96
59	Randolph County Schools	$7,798.20	111
60	Clinton City Schools	$8,941.91	57
61	Wilkes County Schools	$8,303.19	85
62	Lexington City Schools	$9,628.13	34
63	Durham County Schools	$9,988.62	26
64	Gaston County Schools	$7,553.03	113
65	Lee County Schools	$7,909.62	106
66	Clay County Schools	$10,100.47	22
67	Beaufort County Schools	$8,857.41	62
68	Kannapolis City Schools	$8,567.81	75
69	Craven County Schools	$8,100.22	95
70	Asheboro City Schools	$9,324.94	44
71	Rowan-Salisbury County Schools	$8,642.07	70
72	Gates County Schools	$10,608.17	18
73	Whiteville City Schools	$9,531.14	36
74	Cumberland County Schools	$8,025.07	102
75	McDowell County Schools	$8,688.52	67
76	Brunswick County Schools	$9,116.59	53
77	Jones County Schools	$12,617.84	3
78	Tyrrell County Schools	$15,655.28	2
79	Onslow County Schools	$8,083.49	98
80	Edenton-Chowan County Schools	$10,549.14	20
81	Nash-Rocky Mount Schools	$8,140.65	92
82	Martin County Schools	$10,366.61	21
83	Madison County Schools	$9,305.92	45
84	Alamance-Burlington Schools	$8,028.59	101
85	Granville County Schools	$8,505.08	76
86	Duplin County Schools	$8,733.88	65
87	Wayne County Schools	$7,917.42	105
88	Anson County Schools	$10,046.67	23
89	Lenoir County Schools	$8,293.30	86
90	Franklin County Schools	$8,285.47	87
91	Greene County Schools	$10,020.54	25
92	Montgomery County Schools	$9,202.41	50
93	Person County Schools	$8,919.17	58
94	Rockingham County Schools	$8,796.58	63
95	Sampson County Schools	$8,616.76	72
96	Bladen County Schools	$9,741.73	32
97	Weldon City Schools	$12,155.97	4
98	Hoke County Schools	$7,978.63	103
99	Perquimans County Schools	$9,926.77	29
100	Warren County Schools	$11,151.33	12
101	Scotland County Schools	$9,773.03	31
102	Richmond County Schools	$8,406.43	81
103	Pasquotank County Schools	$9,045.10	56
104	Robeson County Schools	$9,126.32	52
105	Caswell County Schools	$9,384.54	43
106	Columbus County Schools	$8,645.88	69
107	Harnett County Schools	$8,052.90	99
108	Thomasville City Schools	$9,960.30	27
109	Edgecombe County Schools	$9,274.23	46
110	Washington County Schools	$11,680.10	6
111	Halifax County Schools	$11,021.27	14
112	Bertie County Schools	$11,199.66	10
113	Hertford County Schools	$10,592.50	19
114	Vance County Schools	$9,522.51	39
115	Northampton County Schools	$11,885.89	5

    Sources: Niche.com and the N.C. Department of Public Instruction's Statistical Profile

Acronym of the Week

    PPE — per pupil expenditure

Quote of the Week

    "But as a nation, the United States cannot pretend that education dollars are endless, and we must address the issue of spending effectiveness. This is not an academic point, given lackluster education revenues."

    — Ulrich Boser, Return on Educational Investment, 2014: A District-by-District Evaluation of U.S. Educational Productivity, Center for American Progress, July 9, 2014.

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