Statistically, students who are at the greatest economic disadvantage need the most help to succeed in school.But according to a report released by the nonprofit Education Trust, those are exactly the students who are being shortchanged by the federal government.
And almost nowhere is that more evident than in Alabama, which is home to 2 percent of the poor children living in the United States but only receives 1.6 percent of the federal money set aside for such students.
According to the report, Alabama receives roughly $1,071 per student from Washington. By contrast, wealthier states receive more — $2,794 in Vermont and $2,310 in Massachusetts.
The disparity is due to a flawed government formula that allots Title 1 education money for needy children to states based on the number and grouping of students living in poverty. But the federal money is also tied to how much each state spends on each student.
And that’s the fatal flaw in the whole equation. States that have more money to spend on struggling students get more federal taxpayer money.
According to the report, the situation is worse in the South. States like Alabama that struggle to fund even basic education requirements and the children who live there are getting “left behind.”
Not only is the federal Title 1 system broken, it is actually doing the exact opposite of what it was intended to — create equal education opportunities for all students, regardless of their economic background.
While the majority of the burden for fixing the problem lies with the politicians in Washington — they need to seriously rethink their math — state governments also must do their share.
That means Alabama must find a better way to fund education for the children living here. Even in years when the public education system is not faced with proration, school funds are barely adequate to do the job.
The combination of flawed federal funding and a state that is stingy with regards to taking care of its most important asset — its children — puts students here at a grave disadvantage.
Fixing the problem should be a priority both in Washington and Montgomery.
