Jackson district rated 'most equitable' in Missouri

A new study of Missouri’s public schools has named a school system in Cape Girardeau County as the “most equitable” in the state.

Results of the study, released last week by the personal finance website WalletHub, ranked the Jackson School District at the top of Missouri’s school districts in terms of providing an “equitable” education to the district’s 5,400-plus K-12 students.

The study also ranked the Perry County School District as the state’s third-most equitable district while the Cape Girardeau public school system checked in at No. 204 out of the state’s 516 public school districts.

“Being the most equitable school district in Missouri means that the Jackson School District provides the same quality education to all students, regardless of their financial status,” according to WalletHub analyst Jill Gonzalez. “In the long run, this can help prevent poor students from having lower graduation rates. It also encourages them to pursue a higher education.”

WalletHub based its rankings on two metrics — average household income in each districts and per-pupil expenditures in each district’s elementary and secondary schools. Expenditures and household income data were then measured against state averages.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the Jackson School District’s average household income in 2018 was $60,013, while the district spent an average of $8,551 per pupil. Missouri households had an average income of $73,145 in 2018 and public schools spent, on average, $10,972 per student, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Methodology

In calculating its rankings, WalletHub added or subtracted points based on the differences between district and statewide expenditures and household incomes. For expenditures, for each 1% below the state’s average, one point was added to a base score of 50 points for each district. For household income, for each 1% below the state’s average, one point was subtracted from the base score. The inverse was applied for each 1% above state averages.

The final score for each district was determined based on the difference between the score for expenditures and the score for household income. WalletHub then ranked the districts based on the final score, with the lowest value, representing the most equitable, ranked at the top of the list.

When the formula was applied to expenditures and average household income in the Jackson School District, the school system’s “equitability” score was calculated at 0.03.

“Right now, there is a balance between the amount spent and the household income in the district,” Gonzalez said. “If expenditures were lower, it would mean less equitability in education and higher discrepancies between the rich and the poor. If spending were higher, it would mean funds would be unnecessarily taken from things like school infrastructure.”

In the Perry County School District, the average household income in 2018 was $54,937, about $5,000 below the average household income in the Jackson district, but the average expenditure per student, at $9,677, was more than $1,000 higher, giving that district an equitability score of 0.09.

Meanwhile, the 2018 average household income in the Cape Girardeau district was $44,429 and the district spent $10,078 per student, resulting in an equitability score of 17.8.

A ‘pat on the back’

“We’ve always prided ourselves on what we would say is doing more with less and making sure throughout our district, and in each building, that each child has the same opportunities,” said Jackson superintendent John Link, who said the WalletHub study is “a good pat on the back” for the district.

“I think it tells our community we love all and serve all, like we say we do. We care about each individual kid and try to do the best we can for each student,” he said.

Statewide, the Hardin-Central School District in Hardin, Missouri, northeast of Kansas City, spent the most per pupil in 2018, averaging $32,012, and was ranked at the bottom of the “equitability” list with a score of 208.7. The Naylor School District in Southeast Missouri spent the least per student in 2018, averaging $7,617. However, because the Naylor district’s average household income was only $31,512, its equitability score was 66.5, ranking it 487th in the state.

“There are a lot of schools that spend more per child than we do and there’s a lot that spend less, but we feel confident about the job we do,” Link said. “We look at what’s needed and what’s wanted, and we prioritize our spending and our learning plans. Instead of jumping on every program that comes along and spending money, we try to do the best with what we already have, and I think that’s a plus.”

The Jackson district receives about $4,000 in state support per pupil.

“Our local community is picking up the rest and the support we get from them is what allows us to be able to provide the quality education that we do,” Link said.

Elsewhere

Besides the Jackson, Cape Girardeau and Perry County districts, the rankings of other school systems in the area included:

• Delta School District — 23rd
• Scott County Central — 40th
• Bell City School District — 50th
• Kelso School District — 78th
• Oak Ridge School District — 140th
• Nell Holcomb School District — 145th
• Marquand School District — 258th

The complete study may be found online at www.wallethub.com/edu/e/most-least-equitable-school-districts-in-missouri/77098.

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