Many rural Arizona school districts are among the most equitable in the state, according to national school data ranked by WalletHub.
WalletHub says Arizona has the 6th least equitable school districts in the country, but some districts do a better job of distributing funding more equally.
“States that provide equitable funding to all school districts can help prevent poor students from having lower graduation rates, lower rates of pursuing higher education and smaller future incomes than their wealthy peers,” WalletHub says.
Data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Center for Education Statistics was analyzed to show where districts ranked when it comes to average household income per school district and the expenditures per pupil.
The most equitable school districts in Arizona included:
- Santa Cruz Valley Union High School District
- Continental Elementary District
- Wickenburg Unified School District
- Paloma School District
- Baboquivari Unified School District
The least equitable school districts in the state were:
- Pine Strawberry Elementary School District
- Skull Valley Elementary District
- Sentinel Elementary District
- Owens School District No. 6
- Hackberry School District
Most Valley area schools were ranked in the middle of the bunch when it comes to equity. The data listed Dysart Unified District the most equitable in the Valley, falling in the eighth spot.
Cave Creek Unified District was ranked the least equitable in the Valley, at spot 193.
The study overall ranked 203 districts in our state.
See the full ranking here and see specifics for each district.
