Pelham one of least equitable school districts in state, says WalletHub report
The Pelham Union Free School District is one of the least equitable districts in the state, ranked 630 out of 674 school systems, according to an analysis of income and spending by WalletHub.
WalletHub looked at average household income and spending per pupil at 12,876 U.S. school districts. The average household income for Pelham was $168,071 and expenditures per pupil were $23,197. Overall, New York has the least equitable school districts in the country, according to WalletHub.
WalletHub, which says it was the first-ever website to offer free credit scores and full credit reports that are updated on a daily basis, provides customized credit-improvement advice and personalized savings alerts to users. It is owned by Evolution Finance Inc. and is based in Miami. The data used to create the rankings were collected by WalletHub from the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Center for Education Statistics.
“While the U.S. is one of the most educated countries in the world, it doesn’t provide the same quality elementary school or secondary school education to all students,” said WalletHub. “In many states, more affluent school districts receive a greater amount of funding per student than poorer districts, with one estimate claiming that low-income districts are underfunded by around $6,700 per pupil.”
Here is the methodology WalletHub used:
“In order to rank the states with the most and least equitable school districts, WalletHub first scored 12,876 school districts throughout the U.S. based on two metrics: average household income and expenditures for public elementary and secondary schools per pupil.
For expenditures, for each 1 percent above the state’s average we removed 1 point from a base score of 50 points for each district. For household income, for each 1 percent above the state’s average we added 1 point to a base score of 50 points for each district. The inverse was true for each 1 percent below the state’s average.
The final score for each district was calculated by taking the absolute difference between the score for expenditures and the score for household income. We then ranked the districts based on the total score, with the lowest value, representing the most equitable, being ranked 1.”
Some Westchester and Putnam districts were found by the WalletHub analysis to be less equitable than Pelham: Chappaqua Central School District, Scarsdale Union Free School District, Briarcliff Manor Union Free School District, Byram Hills Central School District, Blind Brook-Rye Union Free School District, Ardsley Union Free School District, North Salem Central School District, Katonah-Lewisboro Union Free School District, Rye City School District, Irvington Union Free School District, Bronxville Union Free School District and Garrison Union Free School District.
Chappaqua was fifth from bottom and Scarsdale sixth.
The New Rochelle City School District came in as one of the most equitable in New York with a rank of No. 6.
Cristina is a senior at Pelham Memorial High School. She is the class of 2023 secretary and the Editor-in-Chief of the PMHS Pelican Yearbook. Cristina...
Chris Caruso • Aug 26, 2022 at 7:06 pm
I am grateful for the Examiner’s high quality reporting and effort to educate the Pelham community. Unfortunately, this article does not live up the standards that the Examiner has typically held. Not because of the author’s writing, which as usual is clear and concise, but because of the editorial decision to even report on an unreliable media outlet whose primary function is to promote credit cards to consumers. The methodology in Wallet Hubs’ so-called analysis is basic and flawed and does not serve to inform our community.
This is unfortunate because education funding and spending is a timely and important topic. Just this week there has been serious research and reporting on the topic by the nonprofit education news organization Chalkbeat which published a two-part series (https://www.chalkbeat.org/2022/8/25/23318969/school-funding-inequality-child-poverty-covid-relief). This reporting cites academic papers and public records which are standards that I would hope Pelham’s local community paper adheres to in the future.
Submitted respectfully and with appreciation for the Examiner Staff. Chris Caruso
Matty Goldberg • Aug 26, 2022 at 6:40 pm
One of the most ridiculous “surveys” I’ve come across. I have to wonder what’s in it for WalletHub. The equating of “Equitable” and Quality of education doesn’t enter the picture. Isn’t this just a formulation based on the average income for each school district?
Kathy Soderberg • Aug 26, 2022 at 5:28 pm
Very interesting article, though I have to admit I don’t totally understand how the equitability number is arrived at. Shouldn’t the performance of the students being educated also be considered in any determination of the “quality” of the education that students receive? I only mention quality because Wallethub seems to equate equitability with quality in its quote in the article. Is a town’s education inequitable simply because it spends less per pupil as a percentage the income of the residents of that town? Or did I misunderstand the article, which is entirely possible? If all students of a town receive a quality education, or at least have the opportunity to receive one, that would seem to be equitable regardless of the price spent per pupil compared to the town residents’ income level. Anyway, great job, Cristina!