Fiscal problems of big city school systems: Changing patterns of state and federal aid

Conclusion

As recently as 1970, total state and federal aid per capita for education was $65 for the CC and $83 for OCC areas (Colman, 1975, p. 169). Rather than helping to offset the significant cost disadvantages confronting cities, such aid actually contributed to the problem. As the plight of cities and their schools has surfaced, state and federal governments have responded with significant amounts of aid. While much has already been accomplished, a great deal still needs to be done. As long as cities continue to be the home of the poor and disadvantaged, equal educational opportunity requires that urban school systems spend considerably more per pupil than the surrounding suburban areas. While the question of just how much more should be spent on urban pupils is beyond the scope of this paper, in light of the special problems facing city schools, it is safe to assume that the difference noted in Table 6 will not be effective in securing equal educational opportunities for urban pupils. It is also true that although state aid has increased substantially since 1970, in many cases these increases have barely kept pace with diminishing local revenues. The differences found in Table 14 must increase if city school districts are to meet the challenge of providing quality education to their citizens.